Biaxial flex‐fatigue and viral penetration of natural rubber latex gloves before and after artificial aging

Abstract

Barrier integrity of unaged and oven-aged (at 70 degrees C) natural rubber latex examination gloves was assessed with a biaxial flex-fatigue method where failure was detected electronically, and by live viral penetration testing performed according to a modified version of ASTM F1671-97a. When no change in barrier properties was detected during flex testing, no virus passage was found after viral challenge. Conversely, when a change in the barrier properties was indicated by the electrical signal, virus passage was found in 74% of the specimens. Flex-fatigue results indicated that unaged test specimens from powdered (PD) and powder-free (PF) nonchlorinated gloves had significantly longer fatigue lives than powder-free chlorinated (CL) gloves from the same manufacturer. Biaxial flexing of oven-aged glove specimens showed a marginal increase in fatigue life for the PF gloves, but no increase for the PD gloves. The fatigue life of the CL gloves was observed to increase significantly after oven aging. However, this appears to be due to a design feature of the test apparatus, wherein peak volume displacement of the worked specimen is held constant. An aging-induced change in the viscoelastic properties of the CL gloves-permanent deformation of the specimens early in the fatigue test-relieves the stress magnitude applied as the test progresses. Thus, permanent deformation acts as a confounding factor in measuring durability of latex gloves by fixed displacement flex-fatigue.

Contribution of hydrogen and/or covalent bonds on reinforcement of natural rubber latex films with surface modified silica

“…High elasticity, flexibility and biodegradability are amongst its many outstanding properties . In the medical field it is used to manufacture several important items such as gloves, condoms, blood transfusion tubing, catheters, and exercising bands . However, certain thin film products like condoms and exercising bands demand even higher tensile and tear properties.…”

Self-assembled natural rubber/silica nanocomposites: Its preparation and characterization

“…Natural rubber (NR), one of the most important biosynthesized polymers displaying excellent chemical and physical properties, finds widely application in various areas [1][2][3]. Particularly, as an chemical-free biomacromolecule, natural rubber latex (NRL) has been used in manufacturing medical products such as medical gloves, condoms, blood transfusion tubing, catheters, injector closures and safety bags due to its excellent elasticity, flexibility, anti-virus permeation, good formability and biodegradability [4][5][6]. More recently, with the worldwide spread of the epidemic diseases such as acquired immure deficiency syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis B, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza A (H5N1), it becomes increasingly important and urgent to develop high performance NRL protective products.…”

Application of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber for Management of Industrial Waste Silica

“…Fillers and curing agents to a large extent control the technical properties of rubber compounds [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Particularly, as a chemical-free biomacromolecule, natural rubber latex (NRL) has been used in manufacturing medical products such as medical gloves, condoms, blood transfusion tubing, catheters, injector closures and safety bags due to its excellent elasticity, flexibility, antivirus permeation, good formability and biodegradability [9][10][11]. More recently, with the worldwide spread of the epidemic diseases such as Acquired Immure Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis B, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza A (H5N1), it becomes increasingly important and urgent to develop high performance NRL protective products.…”