Since the beginning of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, members of the medical profession wear latex gloves as diligently as they do scrubs. With this increased use of protective wear, health care workers noticed more and more how the material irritated their skin and developed latex allergies.
Latex allergies are marked by itchy eyes, sneezing, coughing, rash, chest tightness, shock and life-threatening illness even. With a latex allergy, health care providers struggled for a compromise. They were uncomfortable with the gloves, possibly even ill, and without the gloves they were at a higher risk of contracting HIV. The solution: Use natural rubber latex that is hypoallergenic.
Most natural rubber latex is derived from the para rubber tree, which is referred to as hevea commonly. Because hevea is grown in tropical climates, this hevea often absorbs a variety of tropical proteins. The cause of latex allergies are these proteins. Hevea, therefore, is the world’s most common source of rubber and cannot be used to produce hypoallergenic latex.
Commonly used to produce hypoallergenic rubber, synthetic rubber is derived from petroleum. Manufacturers took another look at the guayule plant with rising oil prices and a demand for an environmentally-friendly and natural alternative. Guayule, which is a natural source for hypoallergenic rubber and does not contain any of the tropical proteins found in hevea, grows in the southwest region of the United States and northern Mexico.
Guayule’s use as a hypoallergenic natural rubber source is important for nearly 10 percent of the population has an allergic reaction to hevea-based latex. But the guayule plant is also an excellent cash crop for arid regions. It’s more than just a source of hypoallergenic latex. It can successfully grow in the desert; it’s so sturdy and it doesn’t require irrigation or pesticides. It can be used as a feed stock for ethanol production also.
Guayule rubber is surprisingly nothing new. Using guayule, Native Americans made rubber balls. Rubber was made from guayule because of a leaf blight outbreak that destroyed the rubber trees in Brazil in the 1920s. Guayule was used to produce latex in the 1940s because the war with Japan made it impossible to import rubber from Malaysia. Quickly after World War II ended and Brazilian trees recovered from the leaf blight, guayule rubber as a source of domestic rubber was abandoned. Despite guayule’s natural allure, rubber producers in Southeast Asia were able to produce rubber more economically, and lobbyists worked to keep oil-based synthetic rubber on the market.
Then, again, things changed. In response to the oil embargo beginning in the 1970s, U.S. policy makers began to look at alternatives to oil-based synthetic rubber. Once again, guayule research and development began.
Enter the 1980s when because of AIDS the problem with latex allergies became unavoidable. Then and still now, with the demand being so high, guayule natural rubber is a product invaluable for anyone requiring hypoallergenic products.
Want visitors to your site? Buy an ad here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.