Product category:
General Print Supplies, Services for Printers
News Release from: Best Manufacturing Europe NV | Subject: N-DEX gloves
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 11 January 2007
Guarding Against Dermatitis In Printing
A variety of agents, including some hand protection products, can contribute to contact dermatitis amongst workers in the printing industry.
A variety of agents, including some hand protection products, can contribute to contact dermatitis amongst workers in the printing industry That is according to protective glove manufacturer Best Manufacturing
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 11 Jan 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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The company stressed that contact dermatitis is a major problem for employees.
A common factor is the need for hand protection, primarily in the form of rubber gloves.
When contact dermatitis occurs, the first instinct is to blame it on the gloves but, more often than not, the reason for the allergic reaction is not contact with one agent but a combination of rubber and another source, added Best Manufacturing.
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As more information on the dangers of latex allergies is made available, rubber frequently becomes the prime suspect in cases of work-related dermatitis, added the company.
However, in reality, chemicals, such as detergents and cleansers and metals, such as nickel or chromium, could be the culprits, as those irritant agents cause contact dermatitis.
Those substances can also react with the rubber in gloves, resulting in varying degrees of skin irritation.
In most cases, gloves can prevent reactions.
But in certain situations they can aggravate a skin condition.
The company said that in many cases it recommends its N-DEX gloves to aid protection.
Best Manufacturing said that there are a number of ways to avoid the risk of allergic reactions from gloves.
Firstly, the company explained that it is important to avoid blaming an allergic reaction on the gloves alone and companies should search for the true culprit.
Preventitive measures should include protection by with gloves when employees are working with irritants, such as water and chemicals and cleaning agents, for example.
In adiditon, users should choose powder-free and accelerator-free nitrile gloves, instead of natural rubber gloves.
Best Manufacturing added that soap or skin cleansers can also cause contact dermatitis.
Skin cleansers designed for and labelled as 'heavy-duty cleansers' or 'waterless hand cleansers' contain solvents and abrasives.
Meanwhile, liquid soaps contain preservatives.
Reactions can occur if those agents are not fully rinsed off, leaving residues on the skin.
The company said that wearing gloves, or occlusion of the hands, after applying soaps and cleansers can also trap the residues, resulting in the skin being further exposed to the irritant solvents and preservatives.
Such allergic reactions are irritant contact dermatitis cases, where the allergy itself is not caused by the glove material used but from agents, such as chemicals or frequent contact with water.
On the other hand, many workers are at risk of developing natural rubber latex allergy as a result of the gloves they wear, or come in to contact with.
he company said that statistics in the USA suggest that between five per cent and 20 per cent of workers have developed a latex allergy of some sort, often due to repeated exposure.
Indeed, explained Best Manufacturing, Latex-related allergy can be a common cause of disability amongst employees.
Allergic reactions to natural latex rubber can occur in varying degrees of severity, ranging from a mildly irritating rash to completely debilitating anaphylactic shock.
There are at least three causes of allergic reactions - natural rubber proteins, glove powder and rubber accelerators.
At first, natural rubber proteins can cause contact dermatitis, which may progress with no warning in to a Type I allergic reaction (immediate hypersensitivity).
That is a group of disorders in which a rash appears immediately after exposure and fades away within a few minutes to a number of hours, said Best Manufacturing.
The company explained that the reaction may immediately progress to hives and may spread to other parts of the body, especially the face, with edema, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, laryngeal edema, difficulty breathing, tachycardia and bronchospasm possibly being experienced.
The reaction can be life-threatening.
Latex allergy is listed along with insect stings, medications, shellfish and peanuts as one of the top five causes of life-threatening anaphylaxis, added Best.
If the glove is powdered, the proteins, which migrate to the surface of the glove material during curing, become adhered to the glove powder.
The glove powder, normally cornstarch, with the Latex proteins attached can easily become airborne and may then be inhaled.
This will make the situation worse and increase the risk of suffering anaphylaxis, it is claimed.
Meanwhile, rubber accelerators, which are chemicals used to speed up the manufacturing process of rubber, are present in almost every elastomeric or unsupported glove.
In particular, the accelerators - thiurams, carbamates and benzothiazoles can cause allergic contact dermatitis - (Type IV allergic reaction - delayed hypersensitivity).
That type of dermatitis is an itchy skin condition caused by an allergic reaction to a material - for example, natural rubber and nitrile gloves - after chronic skin exposure.
The allergic reaction arises a few hours after exposure and only affects the area the glove material touched, explained the company.
Best Manufacturing makes hand protection for industrial and medical markets.
The privately-held company exclusively sells through its distributor network to users in every industrial and medical category.
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