A glove powder used to ease the donning of gloves. It is made of edible modified cornstarch and a small percentage of magnesium oxide as defined by USP, the United States Pharmacopoeia.
Accelerator
A chemical used as a catalyst to accelerate the process of turning liquid latex into gel form.
AQL
Acceptable Quality Level, is a quality specification
that the FDA and the manufacturers use to specify
the pinhole rate in surgical and exam gloves. The
FDA specifies an AQL of 1.5 for surgical gloves and
2.5 for exam gloves. AQL 2.5 means the defect level
from a very large numbers of gloves (say one million
pieces) will not be more than 2.5%.
ASTM
The American Society of Testing and Materials. Organized
in 1898, The ASTM is a not-for-profit organization
that provides a forum for the development and publication
of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products,
systems and services in various industries. The FDA
uses some of the standards and specifications developed
by the ASTM to establish its requirements for examination
gloves.
B Grade Gloves
Also known as off-line gloves or industrial grade
gloves. They are not for medical use. These gloves
are either made to not meet medical glove standards
in the first place, or they fail in pinhole rates
or specifications in quality control, and are downgraded
from medical grade to B grade. These gloves are usually
labeled as disposable gloves and cannot be labeled
as exam gloves.
Calcium Carbonate
A mold-release agent added in production to help the
release of gloves from the hand molds or formers.
Calcium carbonate occurs naturally in chalk, limestone
and sea shells.
Eczema
Dermatitis and inflammation of the skin, that later
can develop into thickening and hardening of the skin.
Elongation
Measurement of the length a glove can be stretched
before it breaks. It is expressed as a percent of
the original length of the glove right at the moment
it breaks. The higher the percent, the more stretchable
the glove material.
Industrial Grade
Gloves
See B grade gloves.
Latex
Natural rubber latex is a milky sap-like substance
produced by the rubber tree called Hevea brasiliensis,
found in Southeast Asia, India and South America.
When the trunks of these rubber trees are tapped,
they produce latex. This latex is then collected and
used in manufacturing.
Leaching
The washing and cleansing process with water in the
manufacturing of gloves, by which excess chemicals
and/or latex protein are dissolved and washed away
from the gloves.
LEAP
LEAP method is ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent)
assays that use antibodies that are sensitive to latex
proteins to quantitatively measure the level of antigenic
proteins in latex extracts. The antibodies IgG are
generated from rabbits that are immunized with purified
latex protein.
Spina Bifida
A birth defect in the spinal column, whereby the vertebral
arches (top part of the backbone) is absent, and through
which the spinal membranes may push or jut outward.
Therefore, this part of the central nervous system
is not well protected. Patients with Spina Bifida
are at very high risk of developing latex related
allergy.
Modified Lowry
Modified Lowry method uses a chemical assay to measure
total protein levels. The assay uses a chemical dye
to interact with certain amino acids. The result in
a color shift is measured to determine the change
in optical absorbance, which means the detection of
protein when comparing it to a standard curve using
egg protein (purified ovalbumin) as reference point.
Modulus
A low modulus glove is easy to stretch and flex, whereby
a high modulus glove is hard to move and stretch.
Permeation
Movement of substance through a thin film, such as
a glove, on a molecular level.
Primary Skin
Irritation Test
A test to determine if certain material can cause
skin irritation. The test material, such as a piece
of glove material, is attached to the skin of test
subjects, such as rabbits or guinea pigs. After maintaining
the skin contact for 24 hours, the contact area is
observed for up to 72 hours for any kind of skin reactions.
Rhinitis
Inflammation of the nasal mucous membrane.
Sensitization
The process of developing an allergy.
Tensile strength
Measurement of the amount of force or pull required
to break a glove. Tensile strength is expressed in
Mpa, and the higher the number, the stronger the glove
material.
Vulcanization
A manufacturing process whereby latex gloves are treated
and hardened from gel form into solid form in a heating
oven.
