Medical-Use PVC: Is It Three Strikes and Out?

The response by industry to a new PVC alert from Johns Hopkins is disappointing. The study by the Center for BioEngineering Innovation and Design at the Johns Hopkins University-School of Medicine found that tubing and devices made from PVC leach a chemical that can cause additional suffering for patients recovering from surgery. The research was triggered by a loss-of-taste phenomenon experienced by Dr. Artin A. Shoukas, the lead researcher, following coronary bypass surgery. Other symptoms include short-term memory loss and fatigue. A public relations spokesman told Design News that the American Chemistry Council had no comment because “no groups had been formed” to study the problem. A spokesman for the Society of the Plastics Industry said: “We see this is a non issue. These are life-saving devices.”

The ACC comment makes no sense at all. How could there be groups formed if the problem was just reported? The SPI comment only makes sense if tubing and medical devices could only be made with PVC. Of course, that’s ridiculous as well.

PVC is widely used for medical applications because of its low cost, high functionality and design engineers’ long experience with the material. The Hopkins study isn’t the first red flag for PVC, which was long a target of environmentalists because of claims that poorly incinerated PVC releases dioxins, which can be toxic. More recently, PVC has been targeted because of DEHP plasticizer used to make it soft. The Hopkins report is strike three against the material.