Avaliação físico-química, morfológica e biológica de mangueiras de poli(cloreto de vinila) utilizadas em produtos para saúde.

Abstract

Polyvinyl chloride is widely used in medical devices for the manufacture of blood bags, tubes, and catheters, among others. It is obtained from the polymerization of vinyl chloride and can be processed by various techniques such as extrusion, injection molding, blow molding, calendering, etc. Polyvinyl chloride is a rigid and thermally instable material that requires the addition of plasticizers, heat stabilizers and other additives for making it a flexible and resistant material. In this work, flexible PVC hoses used as components in medical devices from five different manufacturers, named A, B, C, D and E, were characterized in order to evaluate their physicochemical, morphological and biological characteristics. The samples were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with mapping by Energy-Dispersive XRay Spectroscopy (EDS), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), mechanical and cytotoxicity assays. The tests were performed at the Laboratory for Development and Evaluation of Biomaterials (CERTBIO). According to the present results, it can be concluded that all tests were relevant to the characterization of the flexible polyvinyl chloride hoses, also the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy results showed that all hoses are made of PVC and a plasticizer having aromatic ring and ester groups in its structure. Samples A and B have similar characteristics however, they were quite different from samples C, D and E. Samples A and B, although thicker, were less resistant, more viscoelastic, have lower crystallinity and greater thermal stability when compared with samples C, D and E. However, no cytotoxicity was observed in the hoses tested, suggesting that depending on the application, all hoses studied could be used in medical devices.