Double-quality control reveals high-level toxicity in gloves used for operator protection in assisted reproductive technology

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. Design: Quality control study of gloves in ART. Setting: University hospital-based infertility center. Animal(s): Seven- to 8-week-old female B6D2F1 hybrid mice. Intervention(s): 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. Main Outcome Measure(s): Sperm motility index, two-cell and blastocyst development, blastocyst total cell number. Result(s): Quality control by MEA and HuSMA identified two glove brands to be nontoxic. Conclusion(s): Our study shows that gloves used in ART can be toxic and should be tested as part of an ongoing quality control program.

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