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About Why Single-Use Medical
Plastics Have Become Heroes of the Fight Against COVID-19?
 COVID-19 pandemic has placed greater
emphasis on the benefits of singleuse plastics. It is not possible
to imagine a hospital without the ability to have sterile
single-use devices.
Plastic performs many essential
functions in our society, particularly in health care. Single-use
surgical gloves, PPEs , diagnostic kits , syringes, insulin pens,
IV tubes, and catheters, for example, have reduced the risk of
infection and streamlined operations at hospitals by lifting the
burden of sterilization. Medical institutions advise to use
double-bag for clinical waste from Covid-19 patients.
Plastics fall into three main
categories. The first, and most recognizable, is commodity
plastics like polypropylene, polyethylene, styrene or PVC
(polyvinyl chloride). These are used for high-volume, often
single-use disposable applications like tubing, blood unit bags,
masks, gowns or packaging. The second is engineering grades like
polycarbonate, acetal, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) or
TPEs (thermoplastic elastomers). These are used for medium- to
high-volume applications like housings for medical electronics,
including ventilators, drug delivery auto-injectors and surgical
tools. Lastly, high-performance plastics like the sulfones is
another material used in healthcare. These are typically
lower-volume but driven by the need to reuse the devices, which
include orthopedic surgical tools and robotic surgical parts.
These products are both protecting
the dedicated men and women on the front line of the pandemic but
also protecting the very patients whose lives they are trying to
save. Ensures devices and drugs haven’t been tampered with through
packaging with seals, deliver medicines in sterile containers.
The US Center for Disease Control
and Prevention recommends that reopening restaurants switch to
disposable menus, plates, and utensils, and swap in single-portion
condiments. Also used for home delivery services, hand sanitiser
bottles.
In addition to changing some
attitudes among the general public about singleuse plastics,
COVID-19 has contributed to a major shift in the usage and supply
of plastics for healthcare applications.
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