Polypropylene Plastic and Medical Devices

'The Graduate' poster, 1967

September 27, 2012 ~ “Plastics" said the man to a young Dustin Hoffman in the 1967 film, “The Graduate.”

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you – just one word.

Ben: Yes sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Ben: Yes I am.

Mr. McGuire: ‘Plastics.’

Ben: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

Ben: Yes I will.

Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That’s a deal.

Frost & Sullivan, a research and consulting firm, is releasing a good news story about polymers (plastics) used in medical devices. See the news release here.

The company, based in Mountain View, California, notes the average age of the U.S. population keeps advancing and that creates a, “vast market” for so called “minimally invasive” medical procedures.

That means there is an opportunity for the expanded use of plastic polymers, useful in catheters, medical tubing and plastic surgical mesh.

Frost & Sullivan has just issued an Analysis of the Plastic Polymers in Medical Devices Market. It finds the U.S. market totaled 1,3370.0 million pounds, equal to about $1 billion in revenues plus. By the year 2018 that revenue is expected to boost to $1.45 billion.

The most lucrative plastics include polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE), and polypropylene (PP). These accounted for most of the total volume.

“On the flip side, there are some concerns about the use of polymers in medical devices, especially in terms of degradability and recyclability. Nevertheless, this environmental issue has not reached a critical state. The low price of commodity resins like PE, PP, PVC and their high performance characteristics makes them irreplaceable in the near future.”

MDND has requested the leading studies that indicate polypropylene, (used in petroleum-based surgical mesh), is safe to place permanently in the body. The research analyst, based in India, should have that information. Stay tuned!