Invited commentary: assessing latex sensitization using data from NHANES III.

Received for publication July 3, 2000, and accepted for publication August 15, 2000. Abbreviations: IgE, immunoglobulin E; NHANES III, Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. 1 Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ. 2 Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ. Reprint requests to Dr. Daniel Wartenberg, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, 170 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (e-mail: [email protected]). Natural latex rubber is a substance commonly used for making gloves to protect health care workers from infections and other hazards. While gloves mediate one extremely high risk by creating a barrier between health care workers and infectious agents, some argue that the occurrence of sensitization and allergic response from the use of these gloves has created an important occupational health concern (1). Consequences of this sensitization and allergic response, in addition to the direct health risks, include job reassignment and disability and may result in compensation claims. It is from this context that Garabrant et al. (2), in their article in this issue of the Journal, assess whether latex sensitization (or allergic response) is more common among health care workers than among the general population by using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) data (3). Specifically, they question whether or not this sensitization likely comes from latex glove use. In this commentary, we address two issues. First, methodologically, we briefly discuss the usefulness of large, publicly available databases for clarifying known public health concerns. Second, specific to their study, we evaluate whether Garabrant et al. provide useful and convincing evidence on the status of the latex issue.