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Amazon's nitrile glove selection is dwindling and increasing in price. But you should make sure you have a use for them before you buy.
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In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, a nitrile glove shortage may not seem as dire as a mask shortage. After all, no virus can “drill through the skin on your hand,” and masks are still the best safety precaution for most people.
However, these gloves are still a necessity for medical professionals, tattoo artists, food servers, and mechanics. Plus, they have various at-home uses including gardening, cleaning, and safety precautions for the immunocompromised. Right now, our supplies are dwindling -- and the United States currently has no domestic manufacturers.
MedPride Powder-Free Nitrile Exam Gloves, Large, Box/100
Wostar Nitrile Disposable Gloves 2.5 Mil Pack of 100
Outside of professional standards, nitrile gloves are sought at the consumer level for their strong resistance to puncture, protection against corrosion and chemicals, and hypoallergenic qualities -- though some people are allergic, it's far less common than an allergy to latex or other glove-making materials. We've also previously recommended them for gardening, and they're great for working with fiberglass and harsh cleaning chemicals.
In other words, not everyone needs gloves -- but the people who do need gloves are likely to need nitrile gloves. And they're only going to get harder to find.
“The big problem with the nitrile glove space is that the barrier to entry is so great,” says Sean Kelly, Chief Procurement Officer for PPE of America. “For surgical masks, also known as 3-ply masks, for $150,000 you can get a machine to make them and you’re in business. … nitrile glove manufacturing is very complex. The raw materials are very difficult to access in some parts of the world.”
Coated Rubber Work Gloves, 8-Pair Pack, Nitrile
Right now, the only domestic manufacturer of nitrile gloves is The Showa Group with a factory in Fayette, Ala. And when it comes to amateur glove-making, well, that simply doesn’t exist.
In other words, the deluge of consumer-grade masks we’ve seen -- from fashion companies to individuals starting their own side-hustles on Etsy -- that won’t happen with nitrile gloves. And there’s already starting to be an impact.
“Before Covid, you could buy a box (of nitrile gloves) for $3 - $6," says Kelly. "Go on Amazon now, and you’ll see the average price is $19 - $25, which is ludicrous.”
Exacerbating the problem is the lack of domestic manufacturers, as well as increasing pressure on our foreign providers: In July, the US banned two subsidiaries of the world’s largest glove manufacturer, citing “reasonable evidence of forced labor in the manufacturing process.”
Another problem is fraud, which is especially malignant during the desperation of a public health crisis. Such fraud was a huge problem in the early days of the pandemic: leading N95 mask manufacturer 3M was investigating 4,000 reports of N95 fraud in July, and the Bay Area faced consumer-level fraud in April.
While the biggest problems in procuring nitrile gloves will largely be happening at a corporate, wholesale level, the issues will trickle down to consumers quickly.
“I spoke to a senior buyer in a hospital, and they said that they had literally run out of large nitrile gloves. The glove situation is different with the masks, because with or without Covid, a lot of people need these gloves, but with Covid, they need them more than ever.”
The reaction here is not to stockpile gloves if you don’t have a specific need for them -- that will contribute to the shortage. However, if you use nitrile gloves for tasks that don’t specifically require medical grade gloves, you may want to consider vinyl or latex alternatives.
Medpride Vinyl Gloves, 4.3 Mil Thick
COOLJOB Gardening Gloves for Women
Disposable Latex Gloves, Powder Free
If you do need nitrile gloves in your home or in your place of work, it is prudent to consider strategies for conserving them, otherwise limiting their use, and building yourself a comfortable reserve without going overboard.
MedPride Powder-Free Nitrile Exam Gloves, Large, Box/100
Wostar Nitrile Disposable Gloves 2.5 Mil Pack of 100
Powder Free Disposable Gloves Medium - 100 Pack - Nitrile and Vinyl Blend Material
Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.
Joshua Sargent is an editor for Hearst Newspapers. Email him at josh.sargent@hearst.com.
Joshua Sargent is the Senior News Editor, Commerce, for Hearst Newspapers. Before this job he wrote video games and comedy, which probably just made you say "ah, yeah, that makes sense."
Josh can play the guitar solo from Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" almost exactly right and lives in Brooklyn, NY with a cat that "belongs" to him according to the "law."
Email him at josh.sargent@hearst.com.