We like to highlight stories that contradict the misleading narrative that entrenched opponents of PVC and their allies in the press often perpetuate about the material. In a recent article for Plastics Today, Ole Grøndahl Hansen points out the many benefits of PVC in the medical care industry — and questions the environmental advantages of PVC alternatives:
Maybe the use of PVC in the medical sector has been under the radar in the media for some time, as Norbert Sparrow indicates in PlasticsToday in an article on alternatives to PVC. Yet, so much has happened in the world of PVC and plasticizers in recent years that a black-and-white approach to the use of PVC in healthcare does not do the topic justice.
Both in terms of the health issues related to phthalate exposure and the recycling of medical devices, groundbreaking developments are ongoing. Indeed, these developments call into question if it makes any sense to develop and market “PVC-free” alternatives. According to a recent report on PVC by the Danish EPA, the alternatives often are more expensive than PVC and, maybe more importantly, their environmental advantages lack documentation...