PVC has a long history of more than 40 years in medical products that include intraveneous (IV) bags, blood bags and catheters. PVC has established its safe and effective usage in the medical field. Several studies have been undertaken to conclusively establish harmlessness of PVC and the additives incorporated in it to achieve the desired properties. A recent study conducted by 17 scientists from International Centre of Toxicology and Medical, evaluated scientific evidence
of potential health risks associated with DEHP. Plasticizer has proven that DEHP as used in medical devices, is not harmful to humans even under chronic and much higher than typical conditions of exposure. The panel also concluded that DEHP infact imparts important characteristics that are critical to the function of medical devices. World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on cancer also determined that DEHP is not classifiable as a human carcinogen based on exisiting scientific data.

The scientific data on the safe usage of Phthalate Plasticizers in medical products is increasing. The benefits of these PVC medical products far outweigh the risks.
Several alternate materials have been evaluated and some are even commercialized to replace PVC in order to avoid the environmental issues. Some of the most promising alternates are:

	High frequency weldable Polyolefin film based on DOW material
	Plasticizer free soft polyurethane products for medical equipments
	Reaction Injection moulded Polyurethane parts for medical equipments
	Polyurethane foams for a wide variety of applications
	New biologically inert TOPAS cyclo-olefin polymer is increasingly being used in laboratory and diagnostic equipments.

Plastics certainly play a pivotal role in the medical field and medical science is seeking more and more plastics not only in the existing applications but also in the newly growing fields of molecular biology and gene therapy.