How to Identify Counterfeit Nitrile Gloves

The demand for gloves worldwide has skyrocketed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a shortage in supply. The imbalance between demand and supply of gloves gave rise to the increase in counterfeit gloves.

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Fake gloves are all over the market. Substandard and used gloves are packed and later sold as A-grade gloves. The purchase and use of such gloves puts many people's lives around the world at risk. Fraudsters have infiltrated the medical glove industry, selling unapproved products and illegal gloves.

You may unknowingly purchase second-hand nitrile gloves because it is difficult to identify them. Here is what to look out for to identify counterfeit gloves.

Glove Sizes

Each box of nitrile gloves comes in only one size, whether extra-small, medium, large, extra-large, or double extra-large. It is only a bogus box of gloves that comes in mixed sizes in the same box, a clear indicator of product fraud.

If the size does not match what you ordered, you could be dealing with counterfeit products. Typically, sizes of nitrile gloves are indicated at the bottom of the box.

Contact Information and Lot Number

Manufacturers will have their contact information on the dispenser box. Including the contact information ensures product incident management. Having that information displayed is also the best practice for quality assurance of the products.

Counterfeit nitrile gloves may not have the lot number and contact information and should be avoided if spotted. Sometimes they have fake lot numbers and contact information. You have to check to ensure the outside packaging on each carton matches the factory packaging. 

Price

If the prices of nitrile gloves are far below the market price, it could indicate counterfeit gloves. Cheap nitrile gloves usually provide inadequate protection, and their price tends to indicate that they are substandard. Quality nitrile gloves are not cheap and always have a constant price known to everyone in the market. If an offer is too good to be true, it probably is. 

Glove Visual Check

Nitrile gloves have a smooth surface without wrinkles. They are easy to don and remove and are also not sticky. They have even beaded cuffs for a firm grip. The gloves come clean with no discoloration, stains, tears, or holes.

On the other hand, counterfeit and second-hand gloves may come with wrinkles, stains, and discoloration. They are also sticky, and not easy to put on, and in many cases, tear upon donning. These are warning signs of a counterfeit pair of gloves.

Barcode

A genuine nitrile package has a barcode that identifies the product. Barcodes are also used to track a package. If the box of gloves you bought does not have a barcode, it is highly likely to be fake. All nitrile gloves packages have barcodes at the bottom or back of dispenser boxes.

Legitimate nitrile gloves have their packaging boxes clearly labeled with the price, count, type of material they are made of, bar code, contact information, and lot number. Some also indicate the use.

Fake nitrile gloves do not follow an industry's best practices. The packaging lacks all the essential labels that guide people during purchase.

The FDA has always encouraged bar codes, and therefore most manufacturers have them on cartons and the bottom of the dispenser boxes. 

Brand Name

Alphabet abbreviations used as product representations should be the first sign of nitrile glove fraud. Genuine nitrile gloves should have the exact name. If the pair of nitrile gloves you purchased has strange abbreviations, you may have bought a black market product.

Piece count

Most standard nitrile boxes come packed with 100 pieces of gloves, that is, 50 pairs. They have a clear indication of the piece count on the dispensing package. On the other hand, there could be less than 100 pieces in boxes of fake gloves. Additionally, the count of pieces on those boxes could be missing.

Color

The color indicated on the box should always match the color of the gloves inside. Second-hand or counterfeit gloves come in multiple colors in one box. Original nitrile gloves are never packed in multiple colors mixed into one package.

Additionally, the color should be consistent. Second-hand nitrile gloves could be made to look new by dying. If there are indications of dye, then they could be second-hand gloves. 

Packing system

Nitrile gloves from the manufacturer use a patented packing system that ensures every piece of a glove is evenly and neatly packed. This type of packing provides no bulging of the glove dispenser box. It is easy to dispense the gloves from the dispensing package, a glove at a time, with an accurate packing system.

However, fake nitrile gloves tend to bulge from the packaging box due to the uneven packing, meaning that they did not follow the standard packing system. These gloves are also difficult to dispense.

Thickness

The glove's thickness could be another indicator of whether the nitrile gloves are counterfeit or not. All gloves of one brand should have consistent thickness. The black market often has thinner gloves, or the thickness is inconsistent. They often tear very fast, even upon wearing, unlike the original ones. Such gloves do not provide adequate resistance to puncture, tear, rips, or against chemicals.

Material

Genuine nitrile gloves are made of nitrile material. They are latex-free, and most of them are powder-free. On the other hand, fake nitrile gloves could be PVC and branded as nitrile. PVC and nitrile are two different materials with different qualities.

Nitrile gloves are recommended for different purposes. Buying fake gloves will risk the health of medical practitioners and their patients. There will be limited protection against pathogens and other hazards.

Bottom Line

With the COVID-19 pandemic still in the picture, the demand for disposable nitrile medical gloves is expected to increase. The surge in demand will create a loophole for counterfeit nitrile gloves fraudsters. The use of nitrile gloves in other industries is also expected to go up.

Do not be a victim of these black-market nitrile gloves. Be vigilant about the purchases you make. Before you buy, scrutinize the product packaging for barcodes, expiration dates, and any other writing that seems unusual. Ensure you order and buy authentic nitrile gloves only from reliable sources that will give you the proper protection you need.

However, when comparing all the different types of hand protection, it can be hard to tell the difference and find the best fit for your purpose. Furthermore, most hand protection companies don&#;t explain all the complex variables that go into the creation of a glove. They use industry jargon and expect you to know what they are talking about.

The Glove Company wants to clear the air around gloves and hand protection. We will explain the industry jargon and provide you with a helpful guide to remember when trying to find the best gloves for your needs. Every situation and glove is different though, so if you have the smallest amount of doubt that the glove you are using is not suited to your use, then please reach out to our Glove Experts, who are specially trained to find the best fit for every situation.

Our hands can end up in all sorts of weird and hazardous situations throughout our lifetime. This means a glove that may suit your needs for one job will not provide adequate protection for another task.

Furthermore, every company&#;s spec sheets and chemical-resistant sheets have different information on them, making it very hard to physically compare two different gloves.

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Generally speaking, in the safety industry, everyone automatically associates thickness with quality and strength. However, when it comes to gloves, especially disposable gloves, this is just not the case. Thickness can be an indicator but is not the principle driver.

The thickness of a glove is not a reliable indicator of strength, quality, or puncture and chemical resistance.

For disposable gloves in particular, it is easy to make a glove &#;thick&#; however, if it&#;s made cheaply, or by someone who does not understand the complexities of glove manufacturing, the &#;thick&#; glove will still easily snap or snag, when pulled or punctured.  

The only way to tell if a glove is of higher quality is to talk directly to a glove specialist and physically compare / trial the gloves.

The best thing to do is call and have a chat to a Glove Expert, they will more than likely figure out which glove is the best for you, and then they will find the best way for you to trial the gloves. Most glove manufacturers are understanding of the fact that the best way for you to find the best protection is to talk to a specialist and trial the gloves, as every work, task or job is different. 

Once you get your hands on the gloves, put them to the test, and it will quickly become apparent, which is the better glove.

Physically comparing and testing gloves is the best way to find the perfect fit for you. However, sometimes, you may need to compare gloves using technical specs and /or certifications.

If you do, there are a few glove expert insider tips and tricks that will enable you to make an accurate comparison.

Comparing the Thickness of Gloves and Disposable Gloves

You can measure thickness in a variety of different ways. In America, they use mils (A &#;mil&#; is a unit of thickness equal to one-thousandth of an inch (.001 inch)). For the rest of the world, we use Micro Meters (Microns). A unit of length equal to one-millionth of a metre.

It is important to note when measuring the thickness of a glove, that depending on which part of the glove is measured, there can be completely different results. For example, a thickness measurement taken from the fingertips will always be a lot thicker than a measurement taken on the palm of the glove.

Best practice in the glove industry is to take the measurement from the palm of the glove. However, not everyone does, and this reason is partly why comparing gloves using only spec sheets does not work. You need to get your hands physically on the gloves and feel the difference for yourself.

How to Measure and Compare Glove Strength

There is no standardised test for measuring and comparing the strength of a glove. Strength has many different definitions depending on the context. Because you need gloves in so many diverse workplaces for a variety of different protection needs, it is hard to apply one blanket rule to determine the &#;strength&#; of a glove. That is why the EN standards were created. The EN standards test for a variety of specific hazards that we can use as a guide to determine how &#;strong&#; a glove is. The best indicators for the strength of a glove are tests for; Puncture resistance, Tear resistance, Abrasion resistance, Cut resistance, and Chemical resistance.   

EN388 was created for Mechanical Risks. Mechanical Risks are defined as; puncture, tear, abrasion and cut resistance of the gloves.

How to measure and compare glove puncture, tear, abrasion and cut resistance. The basic definition of these tests without the industry jargon is;

• Puncture resistance is how well the glove withstands puncture hazards. The higher the number, the more resistant. 

• Tear resistance is how likely the glove is to tear when it comes into contact with snags or pull hazards. The higher the number, the more resistant the glove will be.

• Abrasion resistance is how well the glove withstands abrasion hazards. The higher the number, the more resistant to a course surface the glove is.

• Cut resistance is how well the glove withstands sharp cut hazards. The higher the number, the more resistant to sharp edges, materials, knives, etc. the glove will be.

   

Mechanical hazards are a great way of comparing the &#;strength&#; of a glove. However, another excellent comparison tool is Chemical Resistance measured by the EN374 / AS/NZS .10.1 standard.

How to Measure and Compare Gloves Chemical Resistance

The EN374 Standard compares chemical resistance using letters that represent common chemicals. 

If a glove passes for the letter A, which is Methanol, then we can also conclude that the glove should have good resistance to other chemicals that are similar to Methanol. To learn more about which letter stands for what chemical check out our glove ratings page.

Essentially you can compare chemical resistance between gloves using EN374, comparing what letters each glove has been awarded. The more letters, the more resistant and thus stronger the glove is to chemical hazards.

To sum up, the best way to compare gloves in terms of thickness, quality and strength is to physically trial them out. If that is not possible, then you should use EN / AS/ NZS Standards. Remember there is nothing more important than your safety, so always check that the manufacturer has had the tests conducted by an independent third party. Unfortunately, many manufacturers do testing in-house, and the results can be biassed or inaccurate, which means your hand safety will be compromised. If you have any doubt about your current hand safety, then reach out to our Glove Experts who will point you to the right safety solution. 

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