Penetrations and Permeation

When working around dangerous chemicals and other toxins one may experience exposure to them that may lead to poisonings. To protect the worker from these they often wear gloves or other protective garments to keep the chemicals away from their skin. However what happens when these chemicals have the ability to go through the protective garments and become exposed to the skin?  Many companies have to deal with this problem in order to make protective clothing options for the workers the need to use them.  This process where the chemicals move through the different layers of protection is called permeation.  Chemical permeation is the passage of a chemical through a barrier layer at a molecular level. Molecules of the chemical are absorbed by the barrier material and as the number of molecules absorbed increases, the chemical gradually works its way through the material and out of the other side. By way of illustration, imagine a layer of dry sponge that has a trickle of water poured upon it. At first the water sits on the surface of the sponge. It then starts to soak in and as it does so it spreads out throughout the sponge.   As you continue to add more water is spilled on the sponge until the volume held reaches the point of saturation and water starts to trickle from the opposite side. The trickle of water emerging will increase in volume until a steady rate of flow is reached. On the other hand chemicals can get into the skin by the ways of penetration as well. This is simply when something breaks the skin barrier and enters the bloodstream. Both of these ways for chemicals to get into the bloodstream can be potentially life threatening and it is important to know if your protective garments are strong enough to be dealing with the chemicals you’re using.