Certain problems of toxicity assessment of plastic materials used for blood preservation and preparation

Present state of investigations on the noxious effects of contact of blood and its preparations with products made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is reviewed. Di-2-ethylhexyl pthalate (DEHP), used for softening of PVC employed for medical purposes, has harmful effect on certain cells and possibly cumulates in the organism. In certain cases (massive transfusion) large amounts of DEHP may penetrate into the organism in quantities exceeding the tolerance of the organism and becoming an additional health-endangering factor. DEHP during storage of blood and its preparations has high migration ability parallelling the storage time, and unequal distribution in different blood components. Although there are no reliable evidence of the risk connected with the using of blood stored in PCV containers, presence of DEHP in the blood during transfusions and its possible effect in interaction with other factors on the patient's condition should be considered. It seems that in making containers for blood and blood preparations PCV should be replaced with other materials or the softeners added to PCV should be replaced with less toxic ones.