Within many industrial environments or applications, the risk of variable temperatures can be as important as the primary chemical hazard. Understanding how chemi- cal gloves behave and interact with both contact heat and cold is an important factor to remain protected and productive.

The performance of hand protection under variable temperature conditions depends on the rubber polymer. Heat and cold have varying effects on different types of rubbers which impact both protection and performance.

For example, PVC gloves perform well when exposed to cold temperature down to -40°C due to the number of plasticisers in the gloves, but applying heat to the gloves will result in the production of hydrogen chloride gas which is very toxic when inhaled. On the other hand, nitrile does not perform well when exposed to cold tempera- ture, but will comfortably perform in hot conditions up to 100 °C.