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How the AIDS Epidemic Brought a Forgotten Desert Plant Back

By: Jason Lancaster


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Since the AIDS crisis beginning in the 1980s, members of the medical profession wear latex gloves as diligently as they do scrubs. Health care workers, with this increased use of protective wear, noticed more and more how the material irritated their skin and developed latex allergies.

Latex allergies are marked by itchy eyes, sneezing, coughing, rash, tight chest, shock and even life-threatening illness. Health care providers with allergy to latex struggled for a compromise. Without the gloves they were at a higher risk of contracting HIV and with the gloves they were uncomfortable, possibly even ill. Using natural rubber latex that is hypoallergenic is the solution.

Most natural rubber latex is derived from the para rubber tree, which is commonly referred to as hevea. Hevea is grown in tropical climates, and because of this hevea often absorbs a variety of tropical proteins. These proteins are the cause of latex allergies. Therefore, hevea, the world's most common source of rubber, cannot be used to produce hypoallergenic latex.

Synthetic rubber, derived from petroleum, is commonly used to produce hypoallergenic rubber. But with rising oil prices and a demand for a natural and environmentally-friendly alternative, manufacturers took another look at the guayule plant. Guayule, which grows in the southwest region of the United States and northern Mexico, is a natural source for hypoallergenic rubber because it does not contain any of the tropical proteins found in hevea.

Guayule's use as a hypoallergenic natural rubber source is important for nearly 10 percent of the population has an allergic reaction to hevea-based latex. But the guayule plant is also an excellent cash crop for arid regions. It's more than just a source of hypoallergenic latex. It can successfully grow in the desert; it's so sturdy and it doesn't require irrigation or pesticides. It can be used as a feed stock for ethanol production also.

Surprisingly, guayule rubber is nothing new. Native Americans used guayule to make rubber balls. In the 1920s, rubber was made from guayule because of a leaf blight outbreak that destroyed the rubber trees in Brazil. In the 1940s, guayule was used to produce latex because the war with Japan made it impossible to import rubber from Malaysia. Quickly after Brazilian trees recovered from the leaf blight and World War II ended, guayule rubber was abandoned as a source of domestic rubber. Rubber producers in Southeast Asia were able to produce rubber more economically, and lobbyists worked to keep oil-based synthetic rubber on the market despite guayule's natural allure.

Things changed then again. Beginning in the 1970s-in response to the oil embargo- U.S. policy makers began to look at alternatives to oil-based synthetic rubber. Once again began guayule research and development.

The problem with latex allergies became unavoidable because of AIDS: Enter the 1980s. With the demand being so high then and still now, guayule natural rubber is an invaluable product when requiring hypoallergenic products for anyone.

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Author Jason Lancaster is an avid fan of up-and-coming biotechnology agriculture. Learn more about guayule at GuayuleBlog.com.



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