Over the last 30 years, Cardinal Health has made investments in research and technological innovations to ensure our products meet the highest quality and clinical performance standards.

Investment in Innovation
Latex, synthetic, powered or powder-free, our gloves surpass industry quality and performance standards because patient and practitioner protection and safety are our top priorities. Our research and development teams in the United States and Southeast Asia are among the most experienced and advanced in the industry and have developed some of the most innovative products available:

	Market-leading Esteem® surgical glove incorporate our proprietary manufacturing technology to create a polyisoprene glove that fits, feels and performs so much like a latex, you'll have a hard time believing it's not.
	Protegrity® and Protegrity® Micro SMT surgical gloves are created with an advanced triple-dip bonding technology that integrates the fit and feel of natural rubber latex with the powerful strength of nitrile for unparalleled barrier integrity.
	Both our Esteem® and Protegrity® surgical gloves are available with our exclusive surface modification technology (SMT), a post-finishing step that delivers a glove that feels more like the bare hand than ever before.
	Esteem® stretchy nitrile exam gloves feature an exclusive "stretchy" latex-free, powder-free formulation that offers all the protection of a synthetic while delivering latex-like comfort and flexibility.

Other breakthroughs in glove technology:

	Surface modifications and coatings processes for improved grip
	Technologically advanced formulations to reduce allergen levels
	Enhanced rinsing and leaching methods to reduce allergen content

Pursuing Answers
Concerns about allergy to natural rubber latex continue to be raised. We've aggressively invested in technologically advanced methods to lower allergen content while maintaining the excellent protection provided by natural rubber latex gloves. Ongoing product improvements include major reductions in the allergen content of our medical gloves. Our investment in synthetic alternatives has resulted in the industry's most comprehensive line of alternative materials, including some of the industry's leading products manufactured using:

Neoprene Nitrile PVC Synthetic Coating

Allergen Reduction Process
Cardinal Health is at the forefront of the industry in addressing the issues of protein allergens in natural rubber latex products by sponsoring leading-edge research and educational programs. Recently, there has been widespread discussion of latex allergy attributed to surface proteins on gloves. Researchers believe that there are more than 250 different proteins in natural rubber latex. Though only a handful of them have been identified as allergens, we have incorporated an extensive rinse cycle into our manufacturing process to significantly reduce latex proteins and allergens.

Quality Comes First
Unsurpassed quality is the hallmark of our entire glove line. Our manufacturing processes are so refined that our corporate quality standards often surpass those of the industry, including the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), providing you with maximum protection. All of our glove manufacturing facilities are ISO 9001 certified – the highest recognized certification of quality – to assure consistent glove performance.

With rigorous cleaning and operational procedures, we continually exceed acceptable quality levels (AQLs), providing you with the utmost in barrier protection. In our research and development labs, essential qualities like high tensile strength, low tensile stress and biocompatibility are evaluated and perfected. Every lot is inspected and stringently tested to ensure that glove after glove, the Cardinal Health name provides you with confidence you can trust.

Leading With Integrity
We work hand in hand with the industry-governing bodies to create guidelines and standards for medical gloves that result in the maximum protection for practitioners and patients. We also advocate industry-wide quality goals in medical glove manufacturing by actively participating on the ASTM's standards committee and the Health Industry Manufacturers Association's (HIMA) latex medical device subcommittees.

As the industry leader, we implemented the use of natural rubber latex labels on all packaging before it was an FDA requirement. Each and every one of our gloves is thoroughly detailed in package labeling and product literature to assure your complete awareness, confidence and satisfaction.

Committed To Better Health Care
Our ongoing research is fueled by an attitude of integrity and innovation. We truly partner with our customers, providing insight and support in the form of continued education, advanced management tools, cost-containment programs and, of course, the highest product quality.