European standards

• Category CE Directive 89/686/CEE

  
  

  Category I - Minor risks Category II - Intermediate risks Category III - Irreversible risks

  For category III items, the number of the notified body attending the inspection and production phase appears below the CE mark.

• General requirements and test methods EN420

  • Technical information*
  • Glove marking.
  • Sizes
  • Dexterity levels (1 to 5)
  • Glove environmental safety

  * Printed on the packs or on the information leaflet packed with Showa gloves

• Protection against mechanical risks EN388

  
  4121

  Specified and tested levels of resistance to the following risks:

  • Abrasion (0 to 4): number of cycles needed to break the glove at constant speed.
  • Cutting by slicing (0 to 5): index calculated based on the number of cycles needed to cut the glove at constant speed.
  • Tearing (0 to 4): force needed to tear the glove.
  • Puncturing (0 to 4): force needed to puncture the glove with a standardised steel pin.

  The numbers below the symbol indicate the level of resistance achieved by the glove (from left to right) to abrasion, cutting, tearing and puncture.

  Resistance (level)	0	1	2	3	4	5
  Abrasion (cycles)	< 100	100	500	2000	8000	-
  Cutting (index)	< 1,2	1,2	2,5	5	10	20
  Tearing (newtons)	< 10	10	25	50	75	-
  Puncture (newtons)	< 20	20	60	100	150	-

• Protection against micro-organisms EN374-2

  

  The glove is considered to be resistant to microorganisms if it has successfully undergone the penetration test (air and/or water leak test) and if it meets at least level 2 of the penetration test set out in the table below:

  Performance level	Unit of acceptable quality level	ISO 2859 inspection levels
  Level 3	< 0,65	G1
  Level 2	< 1,5	G1
  Level 1	< 4,0	S4

• Protection against chemicals EN374-3

  
  JKL
  
  

  Tested level (0 to 6) of time taken for various chemicals to pass through the glove (permeation).

  Measured breakthrough time	Permeation performance index
  >10	1
  >30	2
  >60	3
  >120	4
  >240	5
  >480	6

  If the glove shows the first symbol, it has achieved a performance index at least equal to 2 for three of the chemicals listed below:

  Letter code	Chemical	CAS number	Class
  A	Methanol	67-56-1	Primary alcohol
  B	Acetone	67-64-1	Ketone
  C	Acetonitrile	75-05-8	Nitrile
  D	Dichloromethane	75-09-2	Chlorinated hydrocarbon
  E	Carbon disulphide	75-15-0	Organic compound containing sulphur
  F	Toluene	108-88-3	Aromatic hydrocarbon
  G	Diethylamine	109-89-7	Amine
  H	Tetrahydrofurane	109-99-9	Heterocyclic ether
  I	Ethyl acetate	141-78-6	Ester
  J	n-Heptane	142-85-5	Saturated hydrocarbon
  K	Caustic soda 40%	1310-73-2	Inorganic base
  L	Sulphuric acid 96%	7664-93-9	Inorganic mineral acid

  If the glove shows the second symbol, it has not met the conditions required for the first symbol.

• Cold protection EN511

  
  121

  Tested levels of glove performance in terms of the following risks:

  • Climatic or industrial cold transmitted by convection (0 to 4).
  • Climatic or industrial cold transmitted by contact (0 to 4).
  • Impermeability to water (0 or 1).

  If the glove shows this symbol, it has achieved a performance index for (from left to right) climatic cold or industrial cold transmitted by convection, climatic cold or industrial cold transmitted by contact, impermeability to water.

• Electrostatic properties EN1149-1

  Tested level of glove surface resistivity. Measured in ohms/square (Ω), this indicates the capacity of the glove to disperse via a dissipative and/or conductive effect the accumulated static electricity discharges on the operator's hand.