Latex gloves – A life saver
Latex gloves have been used in some form or other since the late 1800s however, their usage really took off with the greater awareness of the dangers of the HIV virus in the 1980s. From this point on latex gloves became life saving equipment to many professions dealing with the public where there existed a risk of contracting the HIV virus through personal contact.
With the greater number of people using latex gloves and the usage for extended periods of time, people were found to be allergic to the protein in natural rubber latex or were prone to developing an allergy from extended use. Manufacturers developed their manufacturing processes to reduce the residual protein levels in the gloves and after identifying that the powder used to make the gloves easier to put on was compounding the problem powder free methods or making the gloves easier to do were developed.
With the increased awareness of the allergy issues with the gloves, synthetic alternatives to the natural rubber were developed. Not only do these have the advantage of being entirely free of natural rubber latex but many offer greater chemical resistance than a natural rubber latex glove and have therefore become popular with other professions such as scientisits, mechanics hairdressers etc where individuals require protection from chemical substances rather than virus’ and infections.
Undoubtedly latex gloves latex gloves are key to many people health and welfare these days.
June 21 2010 03:12 am | Uncategorized