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Standard EN421

Gloves Providing Protection From Radioactive Contamination and Ionising Radiation

This standard applies to gloves to protect from Ionising Radiation and Radioactive Contamination. There are 2 pictograms that are used.

EN421 To protect from radioactive contamination

To protect from radioactive contamination, the glove has to be liquid proof and needs to pass the penetration test defined in EN374.

EN421 To protect from ionising radiation

To protect from ionising radiation, the glove has to contain a certain amount of lead or equivalent metal, quoted as lead equivalence. This lead equivalence must be marked on each glove.


For gloves used in containment enclosures, the glove shall offer high resistance to permeability of water vapour. Materials exposed to ionising radiation may be modelled by their behaviour to ozone cracking. This test is optional and can be used as an aid to selecting gloves which require resistance to ionising radiation.