title: Double-quality control reveals high-level toxicity in gloves used for operator protection in assisted reproductive technology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To submit different glove brands to double-quality control tests using mouse embryo assay (MEA) and the human sperm motility assay (HuSMA). Operator protection against infectious body fluid contamination is a safety issue in assisted reproductive technology (ART). When using gloves in the ART laboratory, toxic substances can be transmitted to culture media, even during brief contact.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quality control study of gloves in ART.
  
  
  METHODS
  University hospital-based infertility center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven- to 8-week-old female B6D2F1 hybrid mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  We tested two surgical, two cleanroom, and six examination glove brands. Only gloves brands that passed both HuSMA and MEA were submitted to further QC using zona-free and/or cryopreserved MEA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sperm motility index, two-cell and blastocyst development, blastocyst total cell number.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Quality control by MEA and HuSMA identified two glove brands to be nontoxic.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study shows that gloves used in ART can be toxic and should be tested as part of an ongoing quality control program.
authors.affiliation: Infertility Centre, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. Sylvie.lierman@ugent.be
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lierman
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Sutter
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dhont
authors.forename: Josiane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van der Elst
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D017575:Gloves, Protective / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000592:standards*; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D011786:Quality Control; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000592:standards*; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000502:physiology; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods