Filed in archive
Latex/Rubber Allergies
, Skin Allergies
by ruth on August 31, 2008
One of the most commented entries in this blog is that on nitrile allergies. Nitrile gloves are often regarded as alternative to latex rubber gloves because latex allergies is a big issue particularly in the healthcare industry. To date, as it was over a year and a half ago when I first wrote it, there is not much information on nitrile allergies on the web. It's as if the experts in the industry do not want to acknowledge the possibility that one can indeed be allergic to nitrile.
Until now.
I would like to lift a comment left by Colette Perches, President/CEO of First Line Gloves from that old blog entry as I feel these are useful information for people who think they might be having allergic reactions to nitrile. (Emphasis are mine).
Well, I'm not convinced with that bit about being allergic to air, but I believe Ms. Perches raised several very important issues.
Until now.
I would like to lift a comment left by Colette Perches, President/CEO of First Line Gloves from that old blog entry as I feel these are useful information for people who think they might be having allergic reactions to nitrile. (Emphasis are mine).
Unfortunately, the conversion to nitrile was falsely promoted as a "fix all" for allergies. The bottom line, it is absolutely possible to be allergic to acrylonitrilabutadeine, the raw material used in the manufacturing of nitrile gloves. In fact, a person can be allergic to AIR. The sensitization process and potential ultimate development of anaphylaxis in extreme cases cannot be predicted by either doses or time exposed to a glove. This is the same for latex as well as nitrile. Gloves are manufactured using accelerators, the most common are carbamates and thiruams. Both can cause Type IV alleric reactions. There are accelerator free gloves and these can be tried to determine if accelerators are the culprit.
With the option to purchase Powder Free Latex, the incidence of latex allergy has dramatically declined. The powder was in fact the primary vehicle that the protein found in latex attached to, became airborne and ultimately sensitized so many individuals by providing a direct inhalation process to mucous membranes. The Adenna polyurethane gloves were discontinued due to cost and low demand. They were developed by an engineer who initially intended them to be used in clean rooms due to their "cleanliness" levels and anti staticproperties. This base material can be utilized still however the hospital industry remains unwilling to procure products that are quality driven as opposed to price driven.
Users should try different brands of gloves, as the leaching process in the manufacturing cycle is critical to removal of all residual chemicals. Users may find that a different brand of nitrile will not cause a reaction, and the same applies with latex. I hear of nitrile allergies daily to many manufacturer's gloves. I believe that in time hospitals and many other markets will offer both latex and nitrile as effective hand PPE, dealing with the potential reaction to anyphyaxis in both. Users should seek a qualified allergist for testing using a western blot or rast assay to determine if they are allergic to either proteins, other raw materials or chemical acclerators. Vinyl gloves typically have more pinholes and the material is not recommended as a barrier to pathogen penetration. OSHA recommends these gloves be used only when exposure is not prevalent.
In addition, the skins own natural oils are critical to the skins integrity and ability to withstand entry of any substance. The increased use of anti bacterial and anti microbial hand soaps, as well as quick dry hand soaps laden with alcohol have stripped the hands of these oils. Many soaps also contain chemical ingredients that cause allergies, however, users are conditioned to look at the glove as the culprit. Using colloidal oatmeal based soaps and lotions to promote the hands healing is critical to the users ability to wear gloves. I hope this has been helpful.
Well, I'm not convinced with that bit about being allergic to air, but I believe Ms. Perches raised several very important issues.
Permalink: More on Latex and Nitrile Glove Allergies
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Vote for More on Latex and Nitrile Glove Allergies:
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Rating: 8.17 out of 6 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Bojan Schianetz N.D.
(09/10/08 9:14pm)
Response from:
Sharon
(10/21/08 8:20pm)
Looking for advice. I am a therapist practicing many years. Have worn both latex and nitrile gloves without a problem all this time. My office switched to all Nitrile roughly 4 years ago and still all has been fine. Today,with the blue nitrile gloves on for about 30+ min, my hands started to itch like crazy. Removed gloves, (hands were bright red),washed hands thouroughly and applied Eucerin Calming Cream (contains oatmeal. Didn't help...itch was maddening. Redness started to spread rapidly with sense of heat and tingling....no additional itching. Traveled bilat. hands, forearm upper arms, shoulders, back, chest, neck. At that point sought help from our Med Staff and received injection of Prednisone and Benadryl equivelent. Within 2-3 hours symptoms were gone... although I am dragging and drained from the Meds. Thoughs? Why now??? Should I go to Latex??? Vinyl??? Freak thing?????
Response from:
Bin Zhou
(01/02/09 11:26pm)
latex allergy is really also a problem for those latex sensitive people. But under work conditions, working with latex gloves is a must. So we need find a substitute for it.
Response from:
Alexas
(06/02/09 4:41pm)
I have been working as a therapist at for many years and never had a problem with gloves until my employer decided to switch from latex to nitrile. I experienced a severe reaction one day after being barely touched on the shoulder by a nurse wearing nitrile gloves - redness, itching, swelling, etc. Several weeks later I had another reaction which was even worse - I couldn't breathe! Is it possible for the allergy to get worse over time? My employer decided that it would be best if they terminate my employment... Now, I can't find work anywhere because all hospitals use nitrile gloves. Anyone out there is similar issues???
Response from:
tina
(06/02/09 8:31pm)
i am a registered respiratory therapist, i was worked for many years with no problem with latex,or vinyl gloves. The hospital i worked for was using vinyl gloves and then switched to the nitrile gloves. I experienced a severe allergic reaction after being barely touched on the left elbow by a nurse wearing nitrile gloves during a code. I felt a sharp sting like a bite from a fire ant or bee sting. I looked at my elbow
and i had welts where the nitrile glove touched my elbow. I washed my elbow off repeatedly with soap and water , i sought the advice from the ed physician ,after one of the nurses seen my elbow and hour after being touched by the nitrile gloves, and the nurse said that where my elbow was touched by the nitrile gloves ,it reminded her of someone that had come in contact with poison oak or ivy.The ed physician asked what happened to me , i explained what happened ,he recommended that i take 25 mg of benedryl, and if it didnt help to come to the ed and i would be treated as a patient.After reporting the accident to my employer ,i was put on interim duty ,i was suppose to be working in areas that were free of the nitrile gloves ,but instead i was still working in areas where nitrile gloves were ,which lead to my more severe reaction. I had difficulty breathing ,swallowing,i felt hot, my hands were red , i had red streaks up my arms, my face, neck and chest were red , i was swelling and shaking all over .the next day my employer terminated my employment , they said i had served their facility well, in fact my department director said i was one of the best respiratory therpaist he had working for him in the department ,but i was told by my former employer i had this allergy, i was a liability , they could not have me dropping dead in the hallway while trying to take care of a patient.i cant find employment due to all hospitals and most clinicas using nitrile gloves , it also makes it hard to obtain medical care , i am now so sensitized i cant even be in the same room with the nitrile gloves without turning red and having difficulty breathing and swallowing.
and i had welts where the nitrile glove touched my elbow. I washed my elbow off repeatedly with soap and water , i sought the advice from the ed physician ,after one of the nurses seen my elbow and hour after being touched by the nitrile gloves, and the nurse said that where my elbow was touched by the nitrile gloves ,it reminded her of someone that had come in contact with poison oak or ivy.The ed physician asked what happened to me , i explained what happened ,he recommended that i take 25 mg of benedryl, and if it didnt help to come to the ed and i would be treated as a patient.After reporting the accident to my employer ,i was put on interim duty ,i was suppose to be working in areas that were free of the nitrile gloves ,but instead i was still working in areas where nitrile gloves were ,which lead to my more severe reaction. I had difficulty breathing ,swallowing,i felt hot, my hands were red , i had red streaks up my arms, my face, neck and chest were red , i was swelling and shaking all over .the next day my employer terminated my employment , they said i had served their facility well, in fact my department director said i was one of the best respiratory therpaist he had working for him in the department ,but i was told by my former employer i had this allergy, i was a liability , they could not have me dropping dead in the hallway while trying to take care of a patient.i cant find employment due to all hospitals and most clinicas using nitrile gloves , it also makes it hard to obtain medical care , i am now so sensitized i cant even be in the same room with the nitrile gloves without turning red and having difficulty breathing and swallowing.
Response from:
Mark Rose
(07/03/09 12:22pm)
Where I used to work, one of the products we sold were disposable gloves, mostly to mechanics. To promote them, they asked us to wear them while doing our jobs. After about a month of wearing them daily, I started to get redness in my hands. About a week later, my reaction worsened to the point where I ended up in the hospital due to restricted breathing. Needless to say, I don't tough nitrile gloves. However, I have handled nitrile bicycle tires since then without any reaction. It's possible it's not nitrile itself, but an agent used in the manufacturing of the gloves.
Response from:
tina
(07/30/09 6:24am)
i have been doing quite a bit of research on nitrile gloves compared to latex gloves ..due having allergic reactions to the nitrile gloves..from what i have read ...it does not sound like you are allergic to nitrile ..your allergic to the accelerants that are used in processing the gloves ..which these same accelerants are used in the making of latex gloves ...i myself do not have a problem with latex ...i do however have an allergy to the nitrile gloves ..some allergist do offer testing to see which accelerant you could be allergic to...they also have patch test for not only latex gloves but nitrile gloves as well . what also concerns me is quite a few of the individuals that have a problem with latex gloves , are actually have a problem with the accelerants that are used in making the gloves ..not the latex proteins, which in that case ..these individuals will have a problem with the nitrile gloves as well
Response from:
tina
(07/30/09 6:26am)
i have been doing quite a bit of research on nitrile gloves compared to latex gloves ..due to having allergic reactions to the nitrile gloves..from what i have read ...it does not sound like you are allergic to nitrile ..your allergic to the accelerants that are used in processing the gloves ..which these same accelerants are used in the making of latex gloves ...i myself do not have a problem with latex ...i do however have an allergy to the nitrile gloves ..some allergist do offer testing to see which accelerant you could be allergic to...they also have patch test for not only latex gloves but nitrile gloves as well . what also concerns me is quite a few of the individuals that have a problem with latex gloves , actually have a problem with the accelerants that are used in making the gloves ..not the latex proteins, which in that case ..these individuals will have a problem with the nitrile gloves as well
Response from:
mano
(09/10/09 2:12am)
i wand the seminar report on nitrile gloves
Response from:
Tina
(12/04/09 7:44am)
I do not do seminars on the nitrile gloves , but I have personally done over a year's worth of research on nitrile gloves. Other than the accelerators , nitrile gloves have acrylnitrile , butadiene , and methacrylic acid. One of the metabolites of acrylnitrile (nitrile) is cyanide, acrylnitrile was also used at one time in pesticides. Butadiene is a petroleum derivative , this is one of the reasons why nitrile gloves seem to work well when worn for cleaning certain chemical spills, also because of it being a petroleum derivative why nitrile gloves are not a good choice to use for other kinds of chemical spills. Acrylnitrile , and butadiene are both listed on the agency for toxic substances and disease control website. You will probably find it also interesting , as did I , that while the maufacturers and distributers of these gloves may claim that the nitrile gloves are not made from a black rubber mix , you can do a web search on black rubber mixes to fine that nitrile -butadiene is a black rubber mix. You can also go to an website for allergies , and find that individuals were having allergic reactions to what were called black rubber mixes. At that time the people that were more than likely to be exposed were machinist, and mechanics , which they still are since belts and o rings that were once made with latex are now made with nitrile , they are also using nitrile gloves instead of latex gloves now . If you would like to know some of the accelerators that are used in the making of these gloves some are thiazoles,carbamates,and thioureas. You can find information on the methacrylic acid on the inchem .com website . I hope this helps.
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Latex doesn't only affect those with latex allergy. If you're allergic to latex, you're also 80% more likely to also become allergic to avocado, banana, kiwi, tomato, wheat and pineapple - and vice versa.
The only way to know for sure what's affecting you is to be tested. Standard tests are known to be unreliable, so you might look into alternatives like resonance testing using cutting-edge resonance testing technology.
You probably know that allergies can develop after prolonged or heavy exposure to a substance, but only if your immune system has already been weakened, perhaps by poor diet, prolonged disease, heavy exposure to toxins, medication or chronic stress. So while you can reduce your symptoms by avoiding the allergenic substances, you should think about getting your immune system back into proper working order. Then, take steps to clear your environment of as many toxins as possible. You don't have to give up the good life to live in harmony with nature.