September 2008
Sensitization to latex gloves
Our Challenge
- Latex allergen content of gloves allegedly increased in 1990’s due to increased demand (less curing time).
- Numerous case reports of dermal and respiratory sensitization appeared in medical journals.
- Healthcare workers filed disability, failure to warn, and product default claims.
Our Approach
- We designed latex extraction studies of gloves and a prospective epidemiology study of sensitization incidence in healthcare workers.
- Conducted a “state of the art” review of the literature concerning:
- manufacturing processes
- allergen content of gloves
- airborne latex in hospitals
- epidemiology and case reports
Our Findings
- There was no evidence that newer gloves contain more allergen.
- The epidemiological weight of evidence suggests there is no increased incidence of dermal and respiratory sensitization.