WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing a ban on certain types of powdered gloves because they pose a health risk to patients, the agency announced today.
The powder is meant to make it easier for doctors and nurses to put on and take off medical gloves, however the powder has been linked to respiratory reactions, wound inflammation and post-surgical adhesions.
"This ban is about protecting patients and health care professionals from a danger they might not even be aware of," Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a press release. "We take bans very seriously and only take this action when we feel it's necessary to protect the public health."
The ban is not for all powdered gloves, but specifically for powdered surgeon's gloves, powdered patient examination gloves and absorbable powder for lubricating surgeon's gloves.
The powder has been linked to airway inflammation, wound inflammation and post-surgical adhesions, which are bands of scar tissue that form between organs and tissues.
Aerosolized glove powder used on latex rubber gloves carries proteins that cause the reactions. Powder used on synthetic gloves does not carry the protein.
The ban is only the second medical supply banned by the government. The first was in 1983, when an artificial hair implant was banned because it was causing infections, according to the New York Times.
