Require Glove Changes
 

Apparently, you have the right to demand that a TSO change their gloves before giving you a pat-down.

YES! You can require they change their gloves before touching either you or your stuff. This ought to be a key element of Opt-Out Day!

Ditto I always ask for fresh gloves - should probably ask for fresh KY as well.

What if I have a latex allergy? I don't, but have heard this is a very real concern for those who do.

I always ask...just to make them do it.

There was a discussion quite a while ago about this subject. There was agreement that we should require them to change into non-latex gloves whether we have an allergy or not. This, of course, doesn't in the least minimize the impacts on a person with an actual allergy. This just allows us to push back on the TSA a little harder.

Is there an online TSA source for this? A flier may need to bring the written policy, since the TSOs aren't always cognizant of their own employer's rules.

Don't have time to look it up now, but, yes, there is a policy. You will get lazy screeners who will tell you that they just changed their gloves. Or, you will find other lazy screenrs who will pull another pair out of their pocket. Don't fall for these tricks.

ALWAYS require it!
 

After a particularly hilarious (after the fact) incident where every part of my body and carry on bags tested positive for explosives after a swab earlier this year and magically came back negative after a glove change, I consider it standard SOP to make TSOs change their gloves in my view before anything gets swabbed/patted/groped/stroked.

Definitely. I've always insisted they change to fresh gloves because of my CPAP. Besides the genuine health concerns, the bonus is you get to tell them to do something for a change, which pis*es about half of them off!

The blue gloves they use are nitrile, so a latex allergy shouldn't be a problem.

+100000

I always ask for gloves to be changed if they are going to touch any of my belongings. They also change the ETD swab every time they swab any of my gear.

Ya know, given the horrific spread of bed bugs, and the more mundane issues of lice, I am HORRIFIED at the idea of them NOT changing their gloves and even though I'm not a germophobe, I will demand that their change their gloves before they go putting their hands in my hair.

Like my mother used to say, "Do you know where those hands have been????"

:eek: Well, we know where some of the clerks hands go when they are in the "resolution room" ;) :eek:

Blue or purple gloves = nitrile (latex-free)
Clear "plastic"-looking gloves = vinyl (latex-free)

Latex gloves are usually buff/off-white colored and are not generally used at security checkpoints because they are more chemically permeable than nitrile gloves. People with latex allergies should be fine.