FIGURE 1.
Comparison of allergen levels in latex gloves analyzed in 1994 (n=20), 1995 (n=65), and 1997 (n=56). Allergen levels are expressed as arbitrary allergen units (AU) per ml of a 1:5 (w/vol) extract. The latex source material, i.e. liquid natural rubber latex, was assigned an arbitrary concentration of 100 000 AU/ml. Allergen concentration below 1 AU/ml denotes very low level, 1–9 AU/ml, low level, 10–100 AU/ml, moderate level and, over 100 AU/ml, high level.