SHIELD Scientific Gloves
Single-use gloves for cleanrooms, laboratories and healthcare, colour-coded so anyone can see the level of protection at a glance. Advanced Safety is an official SHIELD Scientific distributor in Ireland.
The colour on the glove tells you the risk
In a busy lab or cleanroom, most single-use gloves look alike. A thin examination glove and a chemical-rated one can sit in the same drawer, and the difference only shows when something goes through.
SHIELD Scientific solves this with colour. Each brand has its own colour, matched to the level of risk: red for very high risk, orange for high, green for medium, blue for dual risk, where both patient and staff need protecting, and violet for multi-purpose. Cleanroom gloves are graded by cleanliness and sterility instead.
On SHIELDskin and SHIELDskin CHEM, the glove is made in two layers, a coloured outside and a white inside. If the outer layer tears, the white shows through.
What that changes day to day
- New staff learn the system in minutes, not from a chart on the wall
- A supervisor can see the wrong glove on the wrong task from across the room
- A tear in a twin-layer glove is visible straight away
0.25
AQL, the tightest pinhole standard in the range: no more than 2 faulty gloves in a sample of 315.
1 in 1M
Sterility assurance level on SHIELD's gamma-irradiated cleanroom gloves: at most a one-in-a-million chance a glove is not sterile.
7+2
Chemotherapy drugs tested to ASTM D6978 on SHIELD's cytotoxic-rated gloves.
Six brands, one colour code
SHIELDskin XTREME
Cleanrooms, white
Sterile and non-sterile cleanroom gloves in nitrile and latex, 300 to 600 mm long. Washed to DI, DI+ or DI++ particle levels, with sterile gloves gamma irradiated to a one-in-a-million sterility assurance level.
SHIELDskin CHEM
Very high risk, red
Neoprene and nitrile, 0.31 mm at the palm and 300 mm long. Type A to EN ISO 374-1, and tested to ASTM D6978 for cytotoxic drugs.
SHIELDskin
High risk, orange
Two-layer twinSHIELD nitrile, orange outside and white inside, so a tear shows at once. AQL 0.25, Type B, and latex and accelerator free.
ecoSHIELD
Medium risk, green
Everyday nitrile and latex gloves for general lab work, 250 mm long, packed in recycled cardboard with more gloves in each box.
duoSHIELD
Dual risk, blue
Medical gloves to EN 455 that protect both the patient and the person wearing them, in nitrile and low-protein latex, 240 and 290 mm.
SMARTLine
Multi risk, violet
A value range in nitrile, neoprene and latex, from 240 to 600 mm, including sterile gloves, for tasks where the risk is lower.
Cleanrooms
Sterile pairs for Grade A and B, non-sterile for C and D. Every sterile lot comes with a Certificate of Conformance and a Certificate of Irradiation.
Laboratories
Orange SHIELDskin for QC, research and biology labs: twin-layer nitrile, AQL 0.25 and Type B, in 260 and 300 mm lengths.
Clinical samples
Blood and clinical samples call for biohazard protection. SHIELDskin is tested against viruses to ISO 16604, and duoSHIELD covers patient care.
Chemical handling
When the task involves aggressive chemicals, SHIELDskin CHEM gives Type A protection: at least 30 minutes against six of the EN ISO 374-1 test chemicals.
Double donning
In Grade A and B cleanrooms, two pairs are better than one. The sterile system pairs an orange inner glove with a white outer glove, so a puncture in the outer pair shows up as colour before it becomes a contamination.
How to double don sterile cleanroom gloves: an orange inner pair under a white outer pair, so a puncture shows up as colour.
Chemicals and cytotoxic drugs
Pharmacy and oncology teams need gloves tested against the drugs they handle. SHIELDskin CHEM, SHIELDskin and several XTREME gloves are tested to ASTM D6978, a stricter test than EN 16523-1.
Common questions
AQL is the Acceptable Quality Level: the number of gloves with pinholes allowed in a sample from each batch. The lower the number, the fewer faulty gloves get through. At AQL 0.25, no more than 2 gloves in a sample of 315 may fail. Under EN ISO 374-2, Level 3 means an AQL below 0.65.
EN ISO 374-1 grades chemical protection by breakthrough time. Type A gloves resist at least 6 of the standard test chemicals for 30 minutes or more, Type B at least 3, and Type C at least 1 for 10 minutes. SHIELDskin CHEM is Type A; most other SHIELD gloves are Type B.
They are cleanliness grades for cleanroom gloves, washed in deionised water. DI gloves are washed once and carry under 3,000 particles per cm², DI+ are washed three times for under 1,200, and DI++ are washed several times for under 850 (particles over 0.5 µm).
Most of the range is nitrile or neoprene. SHIELDskin is both latex free and accelerator free, which helps users with Type I or Type IV allergies. Where latex is needed, duoSHIELD latex gloves are low protein, at 50 µg/g or less.
Yes. We can supply declarations of conformity, ASTM D6978 cytotoxic test reports and, for sterile gloves, the Certificate of Conformance and Certificate of Irradiation for each lot. Ask our team for the glove you use.
Start with the risk: the colour tells you the level. Then check the chemicals you handle against SHIELD's chemical resistance guide, and the length and cleanliness grade your process needs. We can help you narrow it down.
In a busy lab, nobody reads the box. With SHIELD, the colour does the talking, so the right glove ends up on the right job.
Cathal Irwin, Managing Director, Advanced Safety
A note on standards
Gloves that protect against chemicals or micro-organisms are Category III PPE under EU Regulation 2016/425. Many SHIELD gloves are also Class I medical devices under the Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745. The declaration of conformity for each glove lists exactly which standards it meets.
EN 421 protection against radioactive contamination is not the same as protection from ionising radiation. None of SHIELD's single-use gloves is rated to protect against ionising radiation.
Invest wisely in smarter safety systems. Talk to our team today and find out more.
