Contents of sensitising rubber accelerators in disposable rubber gloves: A Copenhagen market survey

Background

Rubber gloves contain rubber accelerators that may cause contact allergy. The content of sensitising rubber accelerators in contemporary rubber gloves is not well known.

Objectives

Identify and quantify the content of rubber accelerators in disposable rubber gloves.

Methods

Fifty-one gloves of 49 different brands were collected. Forty-eight of the gloves were disposable and three re-usable. The gloves were analysed for their content of sensitising rubber accelerators, that is, zinc dithiocarbamates, thiurams, thiazoles/benzothiazoles, diphenylguanidine, and thioureas by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Results

Rubber accelerators were identified in 43/48 (90%) of the disposable gloves. In total, 39 gloves contained zinc dibutyldithiocarbamate (ZDBC) (0.18–1.96 mg/g), 34 zinc diethyldithiocarbamate (ZDEC) (0.032–2.78 mg/g), three zinc dibenzyldithiocarbamate (0.65–1.4 mg/g), one zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate (0.23 mg/g), and one 1,3-diphenylguanidine (0.21 mg/g). 2-cyanoethyl dimethyldithiocarbamate (CEDMC) was identified in three gloves (<0.052 mg/g). The one glove labelled as accelerator free contained ZDBC (1.07 mg/g). Only few glove packages had the specific content of rubber accelerators labelled.

Conclusions

The most frequent rubber accelerators in rubber gloves are ZDEC and ZDBC. Accelerator-free gloves may contain rubber accelerators. Full labelling of rubber gloves is needed and producers should be sure not to falsely claim that the rubber gloves are free of rubber accelerators.