Biologically active contaminants of intravenous saline in PVC packaging: Australasian, European, and North American samples

Abstract

We have previously found evidence of contaminants in 0.9% saline packaged in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for clinical use. For this current study we asked two questions: (1) what are the organic chemical contaminants in solutions packaged in PVC? and (2) do the contaminants vary in bags manufactured in different countries? We studied samples of 0.9% saline packaged in PVC from Australasia, Europe, and North America. We analysed the saline solutions with high-resolution capillary gas chromatography - mass spectrometry. Components of the Australasian and European bags were also analysed using thermodesorption followed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. In three pairs of samples we found..