Tuesday, July 16, 2002
Page 6D-USA Today
Medical plastics pose health risk to some

A chemical used to soften such plastic medical devices as blood bags and
IV tubes can leach from the plastic and pose a risk to some small groups
of patients, including sick baby boys, says the Food and Drug
Administration. The FDA is advising hospitals to consider using devices
made of different materials to treat patients most at risk. The
chemical, called DEHP, can seep from the plastic into certain liquids,
especially fat containing ones like blood. Studies of young animals show
the chemical can affect testicle development and production of normal
sperm. There's no proof DEHP actually harms humans, but the FDA
considers the theoretical risk important enough that it's writing health
groups to urge they limit certain patients' exposure to DEHP. That's
mainly newborn boys who need lots of treatments that bring the highest
DEHP exposures --- such as multiple blood transfusions and IV tube
feeding. FDA toxicologist Ron Brown said Monday. Also an oxygenation
procedure called ECMO that basically puts newborns on a heart-lung
machine for several days causes high exposure. Male dialysis patients
who are undergoing puberty and pregnant females with a male fetus or
nursing a baby boy are also on the precautions list.