Latex Gloves Educational Articles from the Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council

1) Low Protein Latex Gloves
Click HERE to read the summary

2) Health and Safety
"The fact remains that natural rubber latex remains the gold standard for hand barrier protection due to its strength, elasticity, and relatively low cost. With the availability of low-protein gloves, many clinicians are finding that natural rubber latex gloves are the best overall choice."
-Plastic Surgical Nursing, "Making Sense of Glove Selection," December 22, 2003
Click HERE to get the details

3) Food Safety
"Although most restaurants that use latex offer workers other options such as vinyl, employees prefer latex 5 to 1."
-Statesman Journal, Salem, Ore., August 17, 2002
Click HERE to get the details

4) Policy and Regulation
Of gloves made from other materials, such as synthetic rubbers or polymers, "none possesses the unique mix of properties found in NRL [natural rubber latex] gloves."

-Medical Glove Powder Report, September 1997
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Click HERE to get the details

5)Natural Rubber Latex Gloves Protect Against Viruses and Resist Tear Better Than Synthetic Gloves
Click HERE to get the details

6) The Malaysian Standard Glove (SMG)
Click HERE to get the details

How do you select your medical gloves?

Glove Consumer: If you're to choose a medical glove for your personal use, which would you choose, given the availability of so many types today?

John Woon: My answer is very simple. I do not want to wear any gloves if I can help it! Why? The answer is "common sense". Why should one wear gloves if it is going to affect the "feel" of the objects one is going to handle or touch hence affecting one's performance in carrying out a given task? Remember the reason why some refuse to wear condoms?

Hence, if I have to wear gloves to prevent the spread of diseases, among the first few criteria I'm going to look at is the "tactility" of the gloves i.e. how good is the glove in giving me the "tactile sensation" or "touch sensation" or "touch perception" or "skin perception", meaning simply....the ability to feel the heat, warmth etc via the skin with the glove forming a physical barrier.

The rubber that best suits this criterium is none other than Natural Rubber, Hevea Braziliensis. Also, natural rubber gloves have been proven to give the best barrier protection, tensile strength and tear properties.

As regards the protein issue, NR gloves manufactured today, especially those certified by Malaysia's SMG (Standard Malaysian Gloves) program, could now achieve non-detectable or very low level of residual protein that would have negligible tendency to cause sensitization after prolonged use.