Powdered gloves might not be used in medicine anymore. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a new plan to ban the use of these gloves due to risk of injury or illness.
The agency stated that these gloves, which can be used during surgeries and physical examinations, pose an unnecessary risk not only to the patients, but also to the medical providers.
"This ban is about protecting patients and health care professionals from a danger they might not even be aware of," said Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "We take bans very seriously and only take this action when we feel it's necessary to protect the public health."
According to the FDA, powder can be added onto the gloves to make them easier to put on and take off. In some of the products, however, the powder can end up causing health problems. For example, the aerosolized glove powder that can be found on natural rubber latex gloves contains proteins that might trigger respiratory allergic reactions.
Powdered synthetic gloves, on the other hand, have been linked to non-allergic reactions, such as inflammation on a wound or in the airway. Since these health risks cannot be amended via new guidelines or improved labeling, the FDA decided to ban them altogether, especially since the use of these gloves has been declining.
"As these risks cannot be corrected through new or updated labeling, the FDA is moving forward with the proposal to ban these products, which - if finalized - would ultimately remove them from the marketplace completely," the FDA wrote. "A powdered glove ban would not cause a glove shortage and the economic impact of a ban would not be significant. The ban is also not likely to impact medical practice, because many non-powdered protective glove options are currently available."
Non-powdered gloves used in surgeries and examinations will not be affected by this proposal.
The proposal comes nearly one decade after the FDA published a report on medical glove powder. In that report, the agency stated that it had received numerous requests to ban glove powder due to health issues, such as an increase in the number of infections that could be tied to the powder.
The FDA's proposal will be opened to public comment for 90 days.
