Chemistry - Does latex protect against acids?
Solution 1:
There are all sorts of resources for picking the best gloves for handling any given type of chemical. This resource describes latex as being good for protecting against bases, alcohols, dilute water solutions, and fair against aldehydes, ketones.
Indeed if you check the Glove Type and Chemical Use table towards the bottom of the page, you can see that latex fairs pretty well against most acids. These ratings give you an idea of how long it takes to penetrate the glove when exposed to that chemical. As you can also see from this table, neoprene gloves are slightly better for handling acids, and though it's not shown on the table, PVC gloves are also good.
Solution 2:
It depends on the acid. I would recommend Neoprene gloves instead of latex gloves. I did this excerpt from this guide that I think is taken from the website that ringo mentioned:
VG= Very Good G= Good F=Fair P=Poor
Acetic acid VG
Chromic Acid (50%) P
Citric acid (10%) VG
Hydrochloric acid G
Hydrofluoric acid (48%) G
Lactic acid (85%) VG
Lauric acid (36%) F
Lineoleic acid P
Maleic acid VG
Nitric acid (limited service) F
Oleic acid F
Oxalic acid VG
Palmitic acid VG
Perchloric acid (60%) F
Phosphoric acid G
Potassium hydroxide VG
Sulfuric acid G
Tannic acid (65%) VG
Sodium hydroxide VG