Among hairdressers, occupational hand eczema is very common. Protective gloves are very important in limiting exposure to irritants and allergens. Several glove types might vary in their protective ability and their use might lead to hand eczema due to skin allergy and irritancy.

Studies investigating penetration of gloves to irritants and allergens used in the hairdressing trade and the adverse effects of glove use affecting hairdressers were studied. Overall, 44 studies were identified and out of them 9 studies reported on penetration. Among these, two in vitro studies found nitrile rubber (NR) gloves provide the best protection while handling hair dyes.

Polyethylene (PE) gloves had the lowest documented break-through time. The incidence of sensitization to rubber materials in hairdressers were as follows: thiuram mix, median 2.5%, weighted average 3.0%, Mercapto mix, median 0.4%, weighted average 0.5% and mercaptobenzothiazole, median 0.6%, weighted average 0.7%, NRL-type I allergy, median 1.3%, weighted average 4.0%.

Therefore, the study concluded that NR gloves offer the best skin protection for hairdressers, although NRL and PVC gloves might be adequate in most cases. PE gloves are not at all recommended, instead synthetic rubber gloves with low or no levels of accelerators could be preferred.

Source: Havmose M, Thyssen JP, Zachariae C, Johansen JD. Use of protective glove by hairdressers: a review of efficacy and potential adverse effects. Contact Dermatitis. 2020 Apr 20. doi: 10.1111/cod.13561. [Epub ahead of print]