A blue nitrile medical glove.

Medical gloves are medical safety accessories that ensure sanitary hospital conditions by limiting patients' exposure to infectious matter. They also serve to protect health professionals from disease through contact with bodily fluids. A blue disposable nitrile glove (non-sterile, as worn for medical examination) Taken by me. ... A blue disposable nitrile glove (non-sterile, as worn for medical examination) Taken by me. ... E. Coli bacteria under magnification Sanitation is the hygienic disposal or recycling of waste, as well as the policy and practice of protecting health through hygienic measures. ... For the record label, see Hospital Records. ... A patient having his blood pressure taken by a doctor. ... An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. ... The delivery of modern health care depends on an expanding group of highly trained professionals coming together as an interdisciplinary team. ... Bodily fluids are fluids, which are generally excreted or secreted from the human body. ...

Medical gloves are traditionally made of latex and powdered with cornstarch to lubricate the gloves, making them easier to don ^[1] Cornstarch replaced Lycopodium powder and/or talc but since cornstarch can also impede healing if it gets into tissues (as during surgery), non-powdered gloves are being increasingly used during surgery and other sensitive procedures. Special manufacturing processes are used to compensate for the lack of powder. This does not cite any references or sources. ... Products treated with cornstarch Cornstarch, or cornflour, is the starch of the maize grain, commonly known as corn. ... Lycopodium is a genus of clubmosses, also known as ground pines, in the family Lycopodiaceae, a family of fern-allies (see Pteridophyta). ...

There are two main types of gloves: exam, and surgical. Surgical gloves have more precise sizing (numbered sizing, generally from size 5.5 to size 9), and are made to higher specifications.^[2]

Due to the increasing rate of latex allergy among health professionals as well as in the general population, there has been an increasing move to gloves made of non-latex materials such as vinyl or nitrile rubber. However, these gloves have not yet replaced latex gloves in surgical procedures, as gloves made of alternate materials generally do not fully match the fine control or greater sensitivity to touch available with latex surgical gloves. High-grade non-latex gloves (such as nitrile gloves) also cost two or more times the price of their latex counterparts, a fact that has often prevented switching to these alternate materials in cost-sensitive environments, such as many hospitals.^[3] Latex allergy is a medical term encompassing a range of allergic reactions to natural rubber latex. ... Chemical structure of the vinyl functional group. ... Nitrile rubber is a synthetic rubber co-polymer of acrylonitrile (ACN) and butadiene. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

Powder-free medical gloves are also used in medical cleanroom environments, where the need for cleanliness is often similar to that in a sensitive medical environment.^{[citation needed]} Similar but specially tested gloves are used in electronics cleanrooms.

History

The first disposable medical gloves were manufactured in 1964 by Ansell, which was founded in Melbourne in 1905 by Eric Ansell.^[4] 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) was formerly known as Pacific Dunlop Limited. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ...

References

1. ^ Glove manufacturing
2. ^ FDA: Personal Protective Equipment: Medical Gloves
3. ^ Advantages and Disadvantages of Non-latex Surgical Gloves
4. ^ 100 Years of Australian Innovation - latex gloves

See also

• Glove
• Rubber glove

// Leather gloves A glove (Middle English from Old English glof) is a type of garment which covers the hand of a human. ... A PVC glove A rubber glove is a glove made out of rubber. ...

External links

• Medical Gloves Patents.
• An article discussing nitrile vs. latex for gloves
• Regal Polythene distributors of Medical Gloves