Johns Hopkins
Hospital Ending Latex Use
[Posted 01/24/2008]
On January 14, 2008, the Johns
Hopkins Hospital announced that it has become the
first major medical institution to become
“latex
safe”
by ending all uses of natural rubber latex gloves
and almost all medical latex products. Johns Hopkins
is now using sterile neoprene and polyisoprene
gloves in the operating room and neoprene gloves for
all non-sterile procedures requiring the use of
gloves.
“Latex
hospital gloves were invented here, so it’s
only fitting that Johns Hopkins takes the
initiative to promoting alternatives,”
said Johns Hopkins anesthesiologist Robert H.
Brown, MD, MPH, who chairs the Johns Hopkins
Hospital Latex Task Force. Brown said nurses and
other front-line hospital workers have been
instrumental in implementing the new policy and
educating staffers.
Ridding
the hospital of all latex is a challenge, Brown
said in a news release.
“We
are still searching the hospital for the few
remaining medical latex products that we might have
overlooked, although we can safely say that all
major latex products that are a clear risk to
healthcare workers and patients have been
eliminated.”
Studies
show that up to 15% of healthcare workers and about
6% of the general public are allergic to latex. Two
Hopkins immunologists, Robert Hamilton, PhD, and
Franklin Adkinson, MD, conducted early research
about latex’s
role as an allergen.
A good
resource on allergens in hospital environments is
“Healthy
Choices: Transforming Our Hospitals into
Environmentally Healthy and Safe Places,”
written by Barbara Sattler, RN, DrPH, FAAN, and
Kathryn Hall, RN, MSN. Published in the May 2007
issue of the American Nurses Association’s
Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, the
article lists 11 chemicals, including natural
rubber latex, that either cause asthma or trigger
asthma symptoms in someone who has asthma.
Related Links:
OJIN Article
OHS Article
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