Latex Allergies:

Understanding Who's at Risk

Latex allergies present a moderate to serious health problem for a small percentage of the population. Unfortunately, public communications of the latex allergy facts often are mishandled and misleading, causing unnecessary alarm and controversy about latex balloons among the majority of us.

Latex is the milky sap produced by rubber trees. Like many other natural things — bee sting venom, poison ivy, peanuts — latex can cause allergy problems ranging from minor skin irritation to reactions so severe that immediate emergency medical treatment is required to prevent death.