Understanding Glove Quality Standards

We advertise our nitrile gloves as AQL 1.5, but what does that mean? This article will answer all your questions about glove quality standards.

AQL stands for ‘Accepted Quality Level’. It signifies the percentage of goods that are allowed to have defects from a manufacturing line. AQL 1.5 signifies that a maximum of 1.5% of produced products are allowed to have a defect. In this case of gloves, this defect is pinholes that allow fluid to leak through the glove. Gloves tend to vary from AQL 1.5 to 4.0. AQL 4.0 gloves are best reserved for cleaning and industrial work where hygiene and protection are not critical. For food prep and medical purposes, we recommend AQL 1.5 gloves, since hygiene is very important in these situations.

Some other terms which are relevant to know are

• ASTM D6319. This US standard tests whether nitrile gloves are suitable for medical use. Our nitrile gloves have been tested by this standard and passed.

• EN455. This European standard tests for freedom from pinholes, maximum force before breaking, freedom from hazardous materials, and powder levels.

• EN374. This European standard tests protection from a range of chemicals.