Where the Rubber Hits the Road

As somebody that is allergic to latex, I try my best to be aware of the things that contain latex. This is made extremely difficult by the lack of labelling on things. There are some things I just avoid all together because I’m not sure if it contains latex or not.

This is not easy to do.

Take a pen for example. They have these lovely pens with ‘comfort grip’. We use them in our office all the time. Most people love them, and most don’t give them a second thought. I, on the other hand, have to check the packaging to see if it indicates anywhere that the product is latex free. If the packaging has no such indication, I don’t use it. I have no way of knowing if the pen has been made with natural rubber (bad for me) or synthetic rubber (okay for me).

I also can’t use rubber bands, but my job requires some materials management that requires rubber bands, which means I have to get some help when packaging up my stuff. Again, it’s because I am unable to find out if the rubber bands are in fact made of rubber, or are synthetic.

Try looking for a first aid kit that is latex free, that’s fun.

My wish is that if things are latex free they be marked as such. Rather than just label something as being made with “rubber”, is it too much to ask that things be labelled as “natural rubber” or “synthetic rubber”?