Several factory workers in a Swedish factory where Japanese condoms were packaged came down with allergic reactions, not to latex, but to a spore-based powder coating the prophylactics. The spore, Lycopodium, is found in tree roots in Europe, North America and Asia, said Dr. Anna Rask-Anderson, an occupational and environmental physician in Uppsala Sweden. Lycopodium is a fairly well documented allergen and has been used for a variety of purposes other than condom coating.
Magicians use it.
Opera singers used to use a stage make-up with a Lycopodium base, and some ended up developing contact dermatitis from it. Yet some condom manufacturers use it to coat their condoms. It prevents them from sticking together when they are rolled up in their little packages. Most brands of condoms are coated with cornstarch, but that has its own set of problems, she said. The problem with cornstarch is it's a carrier of the latex allergen.