July 13, 1999
Angry researchers are blasting claims that plastic bags used to store donated blood are toxic and dangerous to human health.
They say they're tired of what they call unsubstantiated internet "babble" on the issue.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates reports
from the Red Cross Center in Murray.
First it was teething rings and vinyl toys for infants. Now it's polyvinyl chloride bags used to store whole blood.
Red Cross researchers agree - there IS a small amount of plasticizer used in the bags which leaches into the blood - but not enough, they say, to taint the product.
In fact, Dr. Annie Strupp claims the plasticizer itself proves beneficial.
"The plasticizer itself can incorporate itself and stabilize the red cell membrane, which makes the red cells live longer," she says.
Dr. Strupp says PVC bags help blood breathe and increase the shelf life from 21 up to 42 days.
The Red Cross has used PVC bags for about 30 years.
"During that time, we have not had any reports of adverse effects-- bad effects to the plasticizer from people who have been tranfused with these products," Strupp says.
Meanwhile, an angry C. Everett Koop and other researchers have dispatched the latest studies to the media.
Unfounded fear - that's what Gary Ouellette, chief operating officer of the Utah Red Cross, fears the internet is promoting.
"The risk certainly would be that people decide that they don't want to donate blood. And any time that happens, it has an adverse impact on the supply itself," he says.
"If that dries up, then people will be severely impacted and people could die," he adds.
Reseachers say those reading activist group claims on the internet should also visit the American Council on Science and Health website at www.acsh.org.
Enlighten your reading, they say, with scientific balanced studies before you jump to conclusions.
