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Information of the QUL about the subject of latex allergy
Question:
Can sleeping on a natural latex mattress trigger allergies to natural latex?
Answer:
In the approximate 60 years of history of natural latex mattresses, such a case was not observed and not proven. The likelihood that such an allergy is triggered during normal use of a carefully produced mattress made from low-protein natural latex can be regarded as extremely low.
Fundamentally, any person with allergies should avoid the known triggers of their allergy. Therefore, persons who are already allergic to natural latex should avoid this material in general to be on the safe side.
Question:
How do I come into contact with natural latex in daily life?
Answer:
Many articles in daily life are produced from natural latex. Rubber / latex gloves, condoms, automobile tires, erasers, adhesive rubber (stamps), seals, balloons, mattresses, seat cushions for furniture and automobile seats, etc. Natural latex mattresses account for less than 4 %. This means that contact with natural latex occurs in many ways in daily life. Therefore, persons who are not already sensitized to natural latex can assume that according to existing knowledge, sleeping on a latex mattress will not cause them to develop allergies to natural latex.
Question:
What is behind it?
Answer:
Natural latex is a natural product. It is gained from the bark juice of the Hevea Brasiliensis tree. Like many other natural products, particularly including foods, natural latex contains so-called (proteins). Under certain conditions, the human organism can develop allergies against specific proteins with which it repeatedly comes into contact. This means that it forms antibodies against these proteins (immunoglobulins, IgE). In the case of renewed contact with these substances, this may trigger a severe defense reaction by the body. The body always only reacts to specific proteins. For instance, known allergies include “hay fever”, triggered by the pollen of grasses or trees; food allergies to specific vegetables or fruits or animal proteins; allergies to animals, their hair or body excretions; house dust allergies triggered by mite excrement etc. The contained proteins always play a decisive role in the occurrence of an allergy.
Question:
Are all articles made from natural latex similarly likely to cause allergies?
Answer:
It makes sense that to trigger an allergy, the intensity of contact and quantity of the allergen with which the person comes into contact has an influence. Natural latex juice which is gained from the bark contains approximately 60 % water, 36 % rubber and approx. 1.5 weight % proteins. Only some of these proteins have an allergenic potential. In further processing, latex is either partially or completely dehydrated. Large shares of the proteins are lost in this process. After the production of foamed latex products such as mattresses or seat cushions, only a fraction of the originally contained product quantity is still present. Inside the cover, immediate contact with the latex is no longer given. The proteins are not volatile and cannot leave the mattress in gaseous form. Therefore, an allergy can only be triggered by dust-form particles if they are small and penetrate out through the cover.Now, it is important that these products are once more cleaned thoroughly so that any still adhering proteins are removed as well as possible.Unlike so-called immersion articles, such as gloves, balloons and condoms, where immediate skin contact is always given, it is clear that in a mattress, the risk of triggering an allergy during normal use is vanishingly small.
Question:
Where do latex allergies mainly occur, and what triggers them?
Answer:
Latex allergies mainly occur in the field of medicine, where this subject has been intensively discussed for more than 15 years. Due to immediate skin contact with gloves, tubes etc. and the possibility of inhaling protein carrying dust particles in powdered gloves, increased caution is indicated here.Depending on the way in which the latex is contacted and the reaction triggered in response, various allergy types are differentiated. There are altogether four types I – IV being differentiated, of which Type I and Type IV are of importance here for natural latex:
Question:
Can an allergy to natural latex always be traced back to contact with natural latex?
Answer:
Some of the proteins in latex contain fragments which occur in many other plants, such as kiwi, avocado, pineapple, fig, mango, papaya, passion fruit, edible chestnuts, and potatoes. The common cross-reaction between natural latex and these fruits is traced back to this similarity of proteins in natural latex and other proteins which occur in nature. A clear determination of the cause of such an allergy is therefore difficult.
Question:
Is there a limit value for the harmlessness of proteins in natural latex mattresses?
Answer:
The manufacturers of mattresses which bear the QUL seal work on the consistent use of low-allergen natural latex and subsequent cleansing of the finished latex cores. Until now, it has not been possible to define a limit value for mattresses, since no standardized method for determination of the protein content for foamed articles made from natural latex is available thus far. For immersion articles (gloves) made from natural latex, a value for the total protein content below 50 mg/kg (=ppm=µg/kg) is discussed, wherein the allergen content should lie below 5 mg/kg. Remember: Only certain proteins are regarded as allergenic.
Type I allergy (acute type) – directed against the natural proteins. Whenever these proteins are brought directly into the bloodstream through inhalation or through the introduction of e.g. catheters, this allergy may occur in a particularly severe form. This allergy form is triggered by improperly produced natural latex products and is frequently seen in the medical field.
Type IV allergy (delayed type) – directed against specific additives (vulcanization aids) which are required for production of a latex product with lasting elasticity. These are equally present in products made from natural and synthetic latex. In the field of mattresses, these Type IV allergies should not play a role, since they are developed only after many years of skin contact. Immediate skin contact with the latex core is not given, due to the mattress cover.
Type I allergies (acute type allergies):
Stage I |
Localized contact urticaria |
Stage II |
Generalized urticaria, including lid edemainklusive Lidödem |
Stage III |
Allergic bronchial asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis |
Stage IV |
Anaphylactic shock |
Type IV allergies (delayed type allergies)
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