Rubber Journal Asia Glove Sector
Glove sector gains an upper hand in PPE market Consumption for rubber gloves has gone up amid workplace safety concerns and
the management of emerging infectious
diseases like the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the nitrile butadiene rubber market has responded positively with improved supply.
Growing reliance on PPE, a gain for the NBR latex Industrialisation is gradually spreading across the globe, leading to the emergence of industry-focused economies all over the world. As a result of this expansion, there has been an increase in workrelated risks, prompting various authorities such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to mandate the provision of efficient safety equipment to workers, particularly in high-risk industries such as healthcare and chemical. Notably, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of having dependable and high- quality PPE (personal protective equipment), particularly gloves, was emphasised. Gloves are an important component of the coronavirus defense protocol because they protect health workers from disease transmission while they are treating patients. This trend is poised to boost the nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) latex industry, which is expected to exceed US$4 billion by 2027, according to Global Market Insights (GMI) estimates.
NBR latex is known for its multiple advantages, such as high performance in extreme temperatures, oil resistance, and personal protection, making it suitable for use in a wide variety of industrial applications. Demand for medical gloves accelerates NBR output Gloves are inevitable medical devices, shared Toms Joseph, former Joint Director (Economics) at Rubber Board, Kottayam, Kerala, India, and Economist at the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC). Throughout those periods of rising and falling rubber glove shares, and until the NBR glove technology was developed and patented in 1990 by Neil Tillotson and Luc DeBecker, natural rubber (NR), nitrile, and vinyl gloves remained the most common types used in the medical sector, Joseph said in an article. The development of blood and body fluid safeguards to all patients bolstered demand for medical rubber gloves
Rubber product factories began producing rubber gloves on request from hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Medical gloves eventually became required PPE for healthcare providers, patients, and others to ensure barrier protection by reducing the risk of pathogen exposure. Gloves are also worn by employees in spas, salons, and other places where physical contact is possible, Thomas said. Medical rubber gloves (including surgical rubber gloves) are regulated as Class I Reserved Medical Devices in the US, and the FDA inspects them to ensure that performance criterion, such as leak resistance, tear resistance, puncture resistance as well as biocompatibility, are met. In a similar vein, GMI stated that increased demand for raw materials, such Gloves are vital PPE in the coronavirus defense protocol because they protect health as NBR latex, has contributed to the high workers from disease transmission while they are treating patients
3 DECEMBER 2021
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