Corn starch

General information

Corn starch is a white, tasteless, odorless powder, used in food processing, papermaking, and the production of industrial adhesives; it is also a component of many cosmetics and oral pharmaceutical products. It has been used as a lubricant in surgical gloves.

Various adverse reactions to corn starch have been reported after surgical use. Corn starch is not by itself allergenic, but it becomes so when it binds allergenic latex proteins [ ], and allergic reactions have been reported (see below, under Immunologic ). Spillage of corn powder used in surgical gloves into the peritoneal cavity can result in peritonitis (see below, under Serosae ) and breakdown of wounds [ ]. Starch granulomata have also been reported in the ear after ear surgery [ , ]. It has been suggested that these reactions are uncommon and due to hypersensitivity, rather than an inflammatory response [ ]. In two patients with starch-induced granulomatous peritonitis, cell-mediated immunity to corn starch was demonstrated [ ].

For some years the FDA has been being petitioned to ban the use of corn starch on latex gloves. In April 2011 the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen filed a petition with the FDA to ban surgical and patient examination gloves that have corn starch powder on them or are made of natural rubber latex, “because of the serious threat posed by these products to patients and healthcare workers and the ready availability of widely used safer alternatives (i.e. powder-free synthetic gloves).” [ , ]. Public Citizen had previously petitioned the agency to ban the use of corn starch powder in latex gloves in January 1998. Other similar citizens’ petitions were presented in 2008 and 2009. Meanwhile, the use of powdered gloves in the USA has been declining without FDA intervention; in 2010 only 7% of gloves were powdered; about 92% of gloves for examination and 94% of surgical gloves were powder-free [ ].

In 1998 the German government banned the use of powdered latex gloves and the Medical Devices Agency in the UK issued a warning about the dangers of using such gloves [ ].

Organs and systems