Students and clinical personnel in the Dental School, for example, are evaluating alternative gloves and other products that use no latex. And student volunteers are part of a study designed to measure their tolerance of latex allergens. Antibodies in the blood from entering freshmen and graduating seniors will be compared in the coming months to look for clues about latex allergy. The researchers theorize that the graduating seniors will have a higher incidence of antibodies to latex compared to incoming students because of more extensive exposure to latex. In the medical setting, latex-free products are held on standby in the operating rooms at University Hospital.
Hospitals have hundreds of latex products, ranging from gloves to catheters.
Both the Dental School and the hospital also are using latex gloves, but ones that do not contain powder on the inside. The powder spreads the latex allergen into the air, and affects people who breathe it. Powder makes putting on and removing the gloves easier, and it also helps speed manufacturing of gloves. Public education is perhaps the most important way to reduce latex risks, said Amy C. Benedikt, MD, an anesthesiologist and assistant professor at the Health Science Center. There is no way to eliminate latex from our environment.