Personnel UV Protective Equipment

Protective Clothing

Wear a fully buttoned lab coat, long pants and closed toe shoes. Make sure that all skin is protected, including face, neck, hands and arms. Make sure there are no gaps in your protective clothing, especially at the wrist and neck areas.

Gloves

Wear disposable latex or nitrile gloves to protect exposed skin on the hands. Do not use vinyl gloves, which can transmit significant amounts of actinic UV.

Eye/Face Protection

Always wear a full face shield. To protect the eyes and face, use a polycarbonate face shield stamped with the ANSI Z87.1-1989 UV certification. Note: if you’re working with splash or projectile hazards, you may also need to wear safety glasses or goggles under the face shield.

Face Shields

Only use polycarbonate face shields that are rated for UV protection. The face shield should be marked with the term Z87 to indicate that the shield meets the ANSI standard to provide at least basic UV protection. Read the specs provided with the face shield to verify that the shield provides adequate UV protection.

Handheld UV Lamps

Handheld UV lamps may be used in research laboratories for visualizing nucleic acids following gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining or for other purposes.

Precautions when using handheld UV lamps:

• Wear a UV protection face shield.

• Cover all exposed skin.

• Be aware of reflective surfaces which can reflect UV radiation to unprotected parts of your skin.