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Every lineman has heard it. “Don’t put that stuff on, it’ll eat your gloves.” So a lot of crews skip sunscreen and bug repellent and take the sunburn and the tick bites instead. That is a bad trade, but the worry behind it is fair. Your rubber gloves and your FR clothing are the gear that keeps you alive. Nothing you put on your skin should put them at risk.
That is why you see ASTM numbers on some skin products. This post explains what ASTM D120 and ASTM F2621 actually cover, what a product test can and cannot tell you, and how to use sun and bug protection around your PPE.
Start with the rules you already work under. OSHA’s electrical protective equipment standard, 29 CFR 1910.137, says:
Swelling, softening and stickiness are the signs of rubber that has been attacked by something. Oils and some solvents are well known for it. So the question “will this lotion hurt my gloves” is the right question to ask.
ASTM D120 is the standard specification for rubber insulating gloves. It covers how the gloves are made and tested to protect workers from electric shock. It sorts gloves into Type I (not ozone resistant) and Type II (ozone resistant), and into Classes 00 through 4 by voltage. The tests in the spec include AC and DC proof tests, breakdown tests, a chemical test, tensile strength, tear and puncture resistance.
D120 is a glove standard, not a lotion standard. A sunscreen cannot “be” D120. What a skin-product maker can do is put the product on glove rubber and then run the glove tests from D120 to see whether the rubber still holds up. That is what a “D120 tested” claim on a skin product should mean.
ASTM F2621 is the standard practice for evaluating how safety products respond in an electric arc exposure. It covers arc-rated gear such as garments, gloves and face shields, and it also covers items that are not arc rated themselves but are used as part of an FR system, which is where a sunscreen or repellent on your skin and shirt fits. The arc exposure itself is run on the ASTM F1959 test setup, the same one used to measure a fabric’s arc rating (ATPV). Flame resistance of fabric is checked separately with the vertical flame test, ASTM D6413.
For a skin product, the practical question is simple. If it is on your skin and soaks into your FR shirt, does that fabric still behave the way it should in an arc or a flame? Testing answers that by putting the product on FR fabric and then running the arc or flame test on that fabric.
Here is what R&R has on file, in plain terms. Every test below was run by an independent lab: ELTEK International Labs for gloves, and ArcWear with Kinectrics for arc and flame.
Lineman’s rubber gloves (ASTM D120). Type 1, Class 2 rubber insulating gloves were exposed to the product, then put through the 20 kV AC proof test. The gloves passed with I.C. Industrial Sunscreen, I.C. Insect Repellent and I.C. Ivy Block. Some loss in tensile strength was measured after exposure and heat aging; those results are kept on file.
Flame (ASTM D6413). FR twill was coated with I.C. Insect Repellent Lotion, and in a separate test with I.C. Ivy Block. In the vertical flame test neither fabric melted or dripped, and afterflame was half a second or less.
Arc exposure (ASTM F2621, F1959 test setup). We had FR twill tested with each product on it, to see whether the fabric still performs in an arc:
What that means on the job: all three are glove-safe when applied as directed. Sunscreen and Ivy Block are FR-compatible when rubbed in: rub them fully into your skin and keep them off your FR clothing, because a heavy coat soaked into the fabric can lower its arc rating. Apply repellent to skin as its label directs.
The sunscreen is a hybrid: non-nano zinc oxide plus organic UV filters. It is full broad spectrum SPF 36 and 80-minute sweat and water resistant, and it rubs in clear. Both repellents are EPA-registered and use IR3535. They repel mosquitoes and ticks for up to 8 hours. EPA Reg. No. 70759-2-91651 (lotion) and 70759-3-91651 (spray).
Be clear with your crew about the limits:
For more on sun, ticks and poison ivy on the right-of-way, see our skin care page for linemen and utility crews and Field Notes: Utility & Electrical.
No. D120 is the glove specification. A D120 test on a skin product means glove rubber was exposed to it and then put through D120 glove tests. Your employer’s PPE program and OSHA’s inspection and retest rules still decide what goes in your bucket.
No. ASTM F2621 is a practice for checking how safety products respond to an electric arc. It does not set an arc rating. Fabric arc ratings come from ASTM F1959.
We make our sunscreen as a lotion, not an aerosol. Whatever you use, check whether it has been tested with your gloves and FR clothing, and follow your company’s PPE program.
Keep reading
What an arc flash is, how FR gear protects you, and how to use sunscreen, Ivy Block and repellent around FR clothing and rubber…
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