EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL: February 23, 1999, 9 a.m. ET
CONTACT: Michael Stewart, 202-651-7048, or Sara Foer, 202-651-7023; [email protected]; website: http://www.nursingworld.org/RNRealNews
ANA WARNS THAT IV BAGS POSE PATIENT RISK
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the American Nurses Association (ANA) joined with other members of Health Care Without Harm, a coalition campaign for environmentally responsible health care, to alert Americans of the newly recognized risks posed to seriously ill patients by certain chemical additives used in the manufacture of plastic intravenous IV bags and tubing. Called phthalates, the chemicals are added to make stiff PVC plastic more flexible. The additives were widely publicized just before the 1998 winter holiday shopping rush as being present in flexible plastic children's toys. Registered nurses warn that phthalates are being delivered directly into the bloodstreams of very ill patients.
In a statement today, Beverly L. Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, president of the American Nurses Association, said, "As the health care professions' premier patient advocates, registered nurses are stepping forward to inform the public of this threat. In health care, where the primary dictum is 'First, do no harm,' it is both appropriate and imperative that registered nurses take such a stand. This is a quality of care issue for the nation."
DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate), the chemical added to PVC IV bags and tubing, has been identified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen. Scientific studies have shown that it also may damage the heart, liver, testes, and kidneys, as well as interfere with sperm production. The printed materials included with some flexible plastic health care equipment caution against the use of these containers to administer medications to nursing mothers, alert users that safety in pediatric care has not been established, and note that studies with solutions from these containers have not been performed to evaluate carcinogenic and mutagenic potentials or effects on fertility.
The health risks associated with DEHP's leaching from PVC add to the significant risks posed by PVC's manufacture and disposal. Both the manufacturing and disposal of PVC produce highly toxic and endocrine-disrupting dioxins. PVC is the only plastic linked both to phthalate leaching and to the production of dioxin.
Alternative IV bags and tubing made of PVC-free and DEHP-free materials exist. The safer equipment is already available in Europe, and, in the U.S., PVC-free IV bags can be found. However, the ANA and Health Care Without Harm report that, due to current health care equipment manufacturing and procurement practices in the U.S., the desirable equipment will become generally available here only when it is demanded by health care professionals, health care institutions, patients, and their families.
"We must ensure that our patients' already-compromised body systems are not further harmed by avoidable contact with DEHP," says Malone. "We also take a stand for the public health of our communities -- to end the toxic pollution caused by PVC-related dioxin."
# # # The text of this release, Dr. Malone's statement, and other ANA materials related to the provision of nursing care without harm to individual patients or to the public health environment are available in electronic format at http://www.nursingworld.org/RNnoharm. Health Care Without Harm may be contacted at: tel: (703) 237-2249, fax: (703) 237-8389, e-mail: [email protected], website: http://www.noharm.org.
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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 53 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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