Prices of latex exam gloves are rising and many manufacturers believe shortages are developing--perhaps even serious shortages that could spark panic buying and drive prices significantly higher.

"The shortage of '87 will look like a cakewalk compared to what's coming," said Edward Skonezny, marketing director at Stone Lion Ltd. (U.S.A.), a distributor in Irvine, Calif. "It'll hit before Christmas."

The shortage will amount to 300 million gloves a month, or about 30% of units sold, he added. Other sources were less alarmed about the situation than he was.

Several factors are driving prices up and generating talk of impending shortages. Stronger than expected sales for latex exam gloves, chugging away at an annual rate of 15% in the United States and higher in Europe, is the most important factor.

"The growth in demand--stimulated partly by guidelines for glove use issued 1 1/2 years ago by the Centers for Disease Control--has surprised everybody in the industry," said Gary Bang, president of Pharmaseal Surgical. PS is a unit of Pharmaseal Division (Valencia, Calif.), Baxter Healthcare Corp.'s glove manufacturer and the No. 1 player in the market (see chart on page 15).

Also contributing to shortages are higher Food and Drug Administration standards, instituted in 1989, that have driven away many manufacturers that couldn't measure up.