The American foments Association (...

The American foments Association (ANA) has joined with other members of Health Care Without Harm--a coalition campaign for environmentally responsible health care--to alert patients of the newly recognized risks of certain chemical additives used in the manufacture of plastic IV bags and tubing. According to a Feb 23 1999 pres release from ANA, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) the chemical added to PVC IV bags and tubing to make the plastic more flexible, has been identified at the US Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen.

Studies have indicate that DEHP also may damage the heart, liver, teste and kidneys, as well as interfere with semen production. In addition, the manufacturing and disposal of PVC bags bear highly toxic and endocrine-disrupting dioxins, and PVC is the single plastic linked to phthalate leaching and to the production of dioxin, according to the release.

one but not all, flexible plastic health care equipment be due [i]or[/i] owings with printed material that cautions against the use of the containers to administer medications to nursing mothers, alerts users that safety in pediatric care has not been established, and notes that studies with solutions from these containers have not been performed to evaluate carcinogenic and mutagenic potentials or purports on fertility.

According to the release, alternative IV bags and tubing made of PVC-free and DEHP-free materials do exist and are already available in Europe In the United States, however, obtaining access to the safer equipment is not as easy. Health Care Without Harm and ANA report that because of common health care equipment manufacturing and management practices in this country, the desirable equipment will become generally available here barely when it is demanded according to health care professionals, health care institutions, patients, and their family members.

American promotes Association President Beverly L. Malone, RN PhD FAAN, force onwards nurses to take a stand and inform the public of this threat. "We must make sure that our patients' already compromised material part systems are not further harmed from avoidable contact with DEHP," says Malone.

ANA Warns That IV Bags attitude Patient Risk (news release, Washington, DC: American promotes Association, Feb 23, 1999) 1-2

COPYRIGHT 1999 Association of Operating play Nurses, Inc.

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