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CNN Sunday Morning

Latex Glove Maker's Business is Booming

Aired November 18, 2001 - 09:26   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Dixville Notch, New Hampshire; that's the first place to open its polls to voters on Election Day, you may recall. Now it is the last place in the U.S. that manufactures thin latex gloves.

CNN's Ann Kellan checks in to see if business is booming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nestled in the mountains of New Hampshire next to a resort hotel, you wouldn't expect to find one of the nation's best defenses against anthrax.

UNIDENTIFIED WORKER: Yes, we're making the rubber gloves.

UNIDENTIFIED WORKER: And the Postal Service, they really need them right now. And just hopefully we can get them out as they need them.

KELLAN: Business is picking up at Tillotson Healthcare Corporation, the last factory in the U.S. to make this kind of glove you see more of now. In industry jargon, they're called exam gloves.

TOM TILLOTSON, TILLOTSON HEALTHCARE CORPORATION: We're getting calls from a lot of government agencies that we've never have dealt with before. You know, customs service, Social Security Administration.

This is the machine where we make the gloves.

KELLAN: The process is pretty simple.

TILLOTSON: This is a coagulant bath. That's the first dip of the process. It's a salt solution that once the forms are coated will cause the latex to stick to the form.

KELLAN: The forms, shaped like hands, are dipped into the liquid that forms the glove. Then they dry and bake. And they peel off a glove.

With twelve variations to choose from, government agencies are getting a crash course in which glove is best. There are subtle differences: powdered, non-powdered; sterile, unsterile. Synthetic nitrile gloves are more comfortable the longer they're worn, while latex from natural rubber offers the same protection at a lower price.

(on camera): And these gloves cost pennies to make. The wholesale price of a pair of these gloves: 10 to 15 cents.

(voice-over): Eighteen billion pairs are dipped and sold every year in the U.S., and that's before the anthrax scare.

DIANE SCHOONER: I wouldn't want to get any of that in the mail.

KELLAN: Diane Schooner (ph), 25 years at the plant, remembers when AIDS boosted sales 10-fold. But most workers here never thought anthrax would increase business.

UNIDENTIFIED WORKER: No, because I didn't think people would be that crazy enough to send it through the mail, literally, you know what I mean? I didn't think the post office guys were going to need it, because I didn't think people were that crazy to want to send it through the mail, you know? I like to know that we are helping people. It's a good feeling. It's a good thing.

KELLAN: That their efforts lend a protective hand to this war against terrorism.

Ann Kellan, CNN, Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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