[Pharmwaste] Kaiser Permanente converting to safer IV equipment

DeBiasi, Deborah (DEQ) Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov
Thu Jan 19 10:35:04 EST 2012


Now if the major blood collecting organizations would do the same...

 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/kaiser-permanente-
to-use-safer-iv-equipment/2012/01/17/gIQArdLs9P_story.html?wpisrc=nl_hea
dlines

 


Kaiser Permanente converting to safer IV equipment


By Lena H. Sun
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/lena-h-sun/2011/03/03/ABUvPGP_page.html>
, Updated: Thursday, January 19, 5:02 AM


Kaiser Permanente, one of the country's largest health-care providers,
plans to announce Thursday that it is converting its intravenous
equipment to more eco-friendly alternatives free of two chemicals that
have been shown to harm humans and the environment, officials said.

Kaiser will buy IV solution bags that are 100 percent free of PVC and
DEHP and intravenous tubing that is free of DEHP. The two chemicals are
widely used in medical products. DEHP, or di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate,
used to make plastic bags and tubing more pliable, has been linked to
reproductive problems and other health effects. When PVC plastic is
manufactured or incinerated, it creates dioxin pollution, a known
carcinogen.

The announcement reflects a broader movement by hospitals and health
systems to organize the industry's vast purchasing power to push
manufacturers of medical products
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/hospitals-health-
groups-use-purchasing-power-to-push-for-greener-medical-products/2011/10
/12/gIQAaDWPgL_story.html> to make them with safer chemicals.

Last fall, five large groups that buy $130 billion worth of medical
products every year adopted a standard set of questions they want
vendors to answer about a variety of chemicals contained in products.
The questions are designed to encourage manufacturers to produce greener
and safer products for workers, patients and the environment, industry
executives have said.

In 2010, Kaiser was the first in the industry to announce that it would
require suppliers to provide environmental data for $1 billion worth of
medical equipment and products used in Kaiser's hospitals, medical
offices and other facilities.

"There are lots of major suppliers that heard the message loud and clear
that we want to move away from products containing known harmful
chemicals," said Kathy Gerwig, Kaiser Permanente's vice president for
employer safety, health and wellness.

Kaiser's latest conversion is its highest-volume and most visible
change, she said. It affects nearly 100 tons of medical equipment - 4.9
million IV tubing sets and 9.2 million solution bags - each year. It is
also expected to save almost $5 million a year.

The process is expected to take about six months. The new equipment is
being made with chemicals that are "not targeted as chemicals of
concern," but meet the same quality standards, said spokeswoman Susannah
Patton.

In the meantime, Gerwig said consumers should not avoid getting the
treatment and medicine they need. The chemicals "are not immediately
poisonous," she said.

"On an individual basis, we can't say there is a specific exposure that
will cause a negative health outcome," she said. "What we are saying is
that for overall community and population health, reducing the potential
of exposures to chemicals we know are correlated to disease is a good
thing." 

(c) The Washington Post Company

 

 

 

 

 

Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov <http://www.deq.virginia.gov/> 
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit and Compliance Assistance Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents 
www.deq.virginia.gov/vpdes/microconstituents.html

Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028      FAX:      804-698-4032

 

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