CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
AN ACT concerning the use of latex gloves and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Latex allergies are increasingly becoming a problem for health care workers, patients, food service workers, and consumers of food products handled with latex gloves, and is recognized as a serious occupational health risk by the Food and Drug Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
b. When exposed to latex gloves or latex glove residue, a person's reaction to latex may manifest itself through skin rashes, hives, itching, swollen skin, swollen lips and tongue, shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, eye or sinus symptoms, asthma and difficulty breathing, coughing spells, wheezing, shock, and even death;
c. In 1997, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) issued an alert concerning the danger of exposure to latex products and requested assistance in preventing allergic reactions to natural rubber latex among workers who use gloves and other products containing latex;
d. NIOSH recommended that workers be provided with non-latex gloves to use when there is little potential contact with infectious materials, such as in the food industry, as food products may become adulterated when they come into direct contact with latex gloves because of the residue the gloves leave behind;
e. In January 2008, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Safety and Health Information Bulletin concerning the potential harm to workers from natural rubber latex gloves and other natural rubber products. The bulletin stated that the two major routes of occupational exposure are dermal contact and inhalation. Inhalation exposure can result from the use of latex gloves, particularly when glove powder acts as a carrier for natural rubber latex protein, which becomes airborne when the gloves are donned or removed;