Powder-Free Latex Gloves Reduces Latex Allergy Rate

(NIH.gov)

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have found that stopping the use of powdered latex gloves reduces allergic sensitization to latex among health care workers. The team’s findings appear online in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (paid subscription required).

Kevin Kelley, professor of pediatrics and internal medicine, led the Wisconsin team. Previous studies showed an association of latex allergy to powdered latex glove use, but their findings were not able to completely confirm this link in specific workers.

The team studied more than 800 health care workers at Froedtert Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for 4.5 years. Researchers tested the amount of latex allergen in the air ducts of the employees’ primary work areas before and after both institutions switched to powder-free gloves, and found a significant correlation between high levels of airborne allergen and health care workers with a latex allergy, or sensitivity.

The switch to powder-free gloves reduced the allergen in the air and in air ducts at both hospitals, and prevented sensitization to latex in health care workers at both institutions. The investigators found a 16-fold reduction in the rate of latex sensitization among the study participants.

Among the health care workers who were sensitized to latex at the beginning of the study, 25 percent lost that sensitivity, and are no longer considered sensitized to latex. Kelly’s team also found health care workers who had demonstrated latex sensitization were nearly three times more likely to leave their jobs.

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