A study of the influence of ultraviolet radiation on di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate leaching from poly(vinyl chloride) medical devices

Abstract

The influence of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the leaching of di(2- -ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) from 8 different parts of plastic medical devices made of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) that are used in two important medical procedures (peritoneal dialysis and transfusion) was investigated. The investigation was performed for three different extraction times (6, 15 and 30 days). DEHP determination was realized by gas chromatography?mass spectrometry (GC-EI? ?MS). All the investigated samples contained a significant amount of DEHP. The results showed that some of the set for peritoneal dialysis contained DEHP in higher amounts than samples from the transfusion set. All samples of tubing material showed higher concentration levels of DEHP than the coupled bags. Results obtained after UV treatment showed that UV radiation has a certain influence on DEHP leaching from samples of PVC medical devices. The smallest difference was in the case of the quadruple blood bag from the transfusion set (about 73 % remained), while the biggest difference was obtained for the SAG-M transfer bag, also from the transfusion set, where just 25 % of total content of DEHP remained. The results obtained for DEHP leaching from investigated samples by time showed that most of the samples showed significant differences in the amounts of DEHP leached after 6 and 30 days.