Thin-walled rubber articles for use contact with living tissue or with
materials to be delivered to living tissue are prepared from aqueous
latex of either natural rubber or synthetic cis-1,4-polyisoprene by
vulcanization to produce both carbon-carbon and
carbon-(sulfur).sub.n-carbon crosslinks, the vulcanization being
performed in the absence of any compounding components that contain
secondary amine groups or any components that have a tendency to produce
nitrosamines. While sulfur activators may be included, it is preferable
that no sulfur accelerators at all be included. Thin-walled rubber
articles formed from the latex surprisingly exhibit a combination of high
tensile strength, high ultimate percent elongation, and low 500% tensile
modulus. The process is particularly effective in the manufacture of
thin-walled articles from synthetic cis-1,4-polyisoprene.