< b>DEHP: A softener for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a plastic polymer used
in a wide array of products. Unplasticized PVC is hard and brittle at room temperature.
A plasticizer (softener) is typically added to increase the flexibility of the polymer.
DEHP is the plasticizer for most PVC medical devices. Devices that may contain DEHP-plasticized
PVC include: intravenous (IV) bags and tubing, umbilical artery catheters, blood
bags and infusion tubing, enteral nutrition feeding bags, nasogastric tubes, peritoneal
dialysis bags and tubing, tubing used in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) procedures,
tubing used in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and tubing used during
hemodialysis.
Everyone is exposed to small levels of DEHP in everyday life. However, some individuals
can be exposed to high levels of DEHP through certain medical procedures. DEHP can
leach out of plastic medical devices into solutions that come in contact with the
plastic. The amount of DEHP that will leach out depends on the temperature, the
lipid content of the liquid, and the duration of contact with the plastic. Seriously
ill individuals often require more than one of these procedures, thus exposing them
to even higher levels of DEHP.
Exposure to DEHP has produced a range of adverse effects in laboratory animals.
Of greatest concern are the effects on the development of the male reproductive
system and the production of normal sperm in young animals.
DEHP is the abbreviation for di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate.
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