Uses & Products

Health care workers wear latex gloves for protection against disease-causing pathogens from their patients, including the AIDS virus. Latex is used in a broad range of other medical and household products as well, ranging from catheters to elastic bands in clothing.

Health Concerns

Latex is a potent allergen and asthmagen.

Survey Findings

0 percent of more than 1,500 nurses surveyed reported on-the-job exposures. In our survey, nurses with frequent, long-term exposures to latex (at least weekly for at least ten years) reported 39 percent higher rates of asthma than other nurses.

Exposure and disease frequencies provided represent responses from more than 1,500 nurses to an online survey concerning their job history, their health, and the health of their children. Analysis of these data show that nurses highly exposed to latex reported a number of health problems at higher rates than other nurses.

Note: This survey was not "controlled" — it was open to any nurse interested in responding. Therefore, it is not possible to cannot draw rigorous, scientific conclusions from the data. But the survey does show that many nurses exposed to chemicals and other hazards on the job are experiencing health problems. More research is critically needed.

Exposures are prevalent: 1,552 nurses & latex

0% are now or were ever exposed on the job

0% of nurses exposed while pregnant

0% of nurses exposed currently or over past 5 years

0% of nurses exposed routinely (at least once per week) for 10 years or more

Commonly reported health problems

Among the 0 nurses routinely exposed**:<

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SELECT distinct healthoutcome1to1.id FROM healthoutcome1to1,employ_exposure WHERE child_id=0 AND healthoutcome1to1.id=employ_exposure.id AND (diagnosis="Allergies, Latex") AND chemical IN ('latex') AND ( years_some + years_reg+years_day)>=10