Manila, Philippines - Manufacturers of polyvinyl products (PVC) will soon be required to consistently label all PVC products once a bill filed at the House of Representatives is enacted into law.
House Bill 1924, principally authored by Rep. Mary Mitzi Cajayon (2nd District, Caloocan City), seeks to protect the public from the harmful effects of PVC products especially those made with di-ethylhexyl-phthalate (DEHP), a phthalate used to soften PVC plastic that can leach from PVC medical devices.
Cajayon cited the warning of the Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition of hospitals and health care systems, medical professionals, community groups, health-affected constituencies and other organizations, of the effects of PVC or vinyl plastic – the most widely used plastic in medical devices which can be harmful to patients, to the environment and to public health.
“Dioxin, a known human carcinogen, can be formed during the manufacture of PVC and during the incineration or burning of PVC products. Moreover, according to animal studies, DEHP is associated with reproductive birth defects and other illnesses,” Cajayon said.
“It is the declared policy of the State to protect the interest of the public and to promote their general welfare. It shall implement measures to achieve the provision of safety standards for consumer products by requiring that polyvinyl chloride (PVC) made products be consistently marked with or accompanied by clear safety warnings that these products pose a risk to human health and development,” Cajayon added.
Cajayon cited the assessment made by Ruth Stringer, an international science and policy coordinator for Health Care Without Harm, that doctors and health care experts in the Philippines have yet to become aware of the hazards of DEHP to human health.
Cajayon said the observation was made by Stringer when she visited various hospitals in the country and identified San Lazaro Hospital, Philippine Children’s Medical Center and the Philippine Heart Center as among those hospitals where PVC products abound.
Cajayon, Chairperson of the Committee on Globalization and WTO, also cited the findings of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) of the United States, which reaffirmed that DEHP poses a risk to human development and fertility.
“The NTP’s conclusion, which is an authoritative statement of the severity of concerns regarding exposure to DEHP in medical devices, affirms the urgent need for medical device manufacturers to stop using DEHP in their products as DEHP leaching out of PVC medical devices is among the highest routes of exposure,” Cajayon said.
Under the measure to be known as the “PVC Labeling Act,” all manufacturers are required to consistently label all PVC products including medical devices that may cause patient exposure to DEHP. The label shall include a cautionary statement in a prominent, clearly worded warning label stating that the PVC product contains DEHP.
The measure further provides that the warning label or statement shall be displayed in its entirety on PVC products, panel of the PVC product’s package and on any descriptive material which accompanies the product. Any PVC product without a warning label shall be considered a mislabeled or banned hazardous product and withdrawn from the market at the expense of the manufacturer or shall not be allowed for distribution, sold or offered for sale.
Violators will be penalized with a fine ranging from P50,000 to P500,000 and imprisonment from one year but not more than ten years.