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Antineoplastic drugs (ADs) are essential tools in cancer treatment, but their cytotoxicity poses a risk to workers involved in their handling. In a hospital environment fundamental strategies for minimising exposure involve proper use of safety cabinets and closed-circuit transfer devices, along with personnel training and increased awareness of risks. However, medical gloves remain the first line of defence. In this respect the evaluation of glove materials and best choices can improve hospital safety management and prevent potential hazards and long-term consequences. The aim of this study was to assess contamination of gloves in samples taken from AD administration and preparation units of nine Italian hospitals and to raise awareness of the importance of evaluating chemico-physical properties of gloves. Our findings show that 33 % of the analysed gloves were positive for at least one AD, with contaminations ranging from 0.6 to 20,729 pg/ cm2. We proposed the alert glove values (AGVs) for each AD as a limit value for contamination assessment and good practice evaluation. Our findings also point to multiple AD contamination (43 % of positive findings in preparation units), calculated as total AGV (AGV-T), and confirm that gloves should be replaced after 30 min of AD handling, based on cumulative permeation and area under the curve (AUC), to maintain safety and limit dermal exposure.

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As workers in medicine, food science, and advanced manufacturing have learned, pristine disposable gloves are an innate source of chemical contamination from the moment they are first donned. Given the typically low extent of chemical contamination on the surface of gloves post-manufacture, many fields overlook, or simply discount, this source of transferable chemical evidence. However, forensic science should not adopt this approach. Instead, the trace chemical signatures left after handling objects while wearing different brands and types of disposable gloves could provide new avenues of forensic intelligence when assessing crime scenes. Similarly, an appreciation of the potential for disposable gloves to transfer innate chemical residues is an important consideration when surface analyses of evidence are envisioned. This review summarises past reports of chemical transference originating from pristine gloves drawn from the fields of medicine, food science, and material science, as well as the few examples highlighting the implications of such events for forensic investigations. Correlations between the chemical identities of the contaminants and the material of glove manufacture are provided here where known, with energy-intensive chemical extraction of glove material, and passive transference of chemical residues through simple contact, both explored. Finally, discussions pertaining to the implications of disposable glove residues, coupled with opportunities for future research, are outlined. • The surfaces of pristine disposable gloves bear trace amounts of native chemical residues. • Many scientific disciplines have characterized these glovemark residues, as collated here. • As prolific users of disposable gloves, forensic scientists should be aware of this source of contamination. • Analysing the chemical residues left by gloves could provide forensic intelligence about the wearer. • Opportunities and areas needing further research are outlined in relation to glovemark evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]