Cytotoxicity of 14 glove materials representing 4 natural rubber latex, 6 synthetic rubber and 4 synthetic polymeric materials was evaluated using dimethylthiazol diphenyltetrazolium (MTT), agar overlay and filter diffusion tests. Cell responses after contact with extracts of glove materials and contact with glove materials were assessed. One synthetic rubber glove (nitrile rubber) and 2 synthe...

Dental personnel manually handle methacrylate-based restorative materials, which can cause skin irritation and allergies. The protection given by different types of medical gloves is not well known. Breakthrough time (BTT, min) was used as a measure of protection according to a European standard, using 2 test mixtures consisting of respectively 3 and 5 monomers. Fourteen gloves representing nat...

Natural rubber is used as an important raw material by the pressure sensitive adhesives industry. However, the normal quality variation is relatively high compared to synthetic polymer alternatives. This paper discusses measurements of the magnitude and nature of this natural rubber quality variation using a special dynamic mechanical rheological tester. Also the paper discusses some of the cau...