Plasticizer concentration in cord blood cryopreserved with DMSO

Abstract

The Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) has evaluated the exposure to DEHP for the general population and patients during medical procedures. In many cases the exposure is significant and exceeds the toxic doses observed in animal studies. There is limited evidence indicating a relation between DEHP exposures and certain effects in humans. However, it is recognised that especially the potentially high exposure during medical treatments raise a concern, even in the absence of clinical or epidemiological evidence, for harmful effects in humans. For certain uses of DEHP alternative plasticizers for PVC are available. The Committee got access to toxicity data for eight possible alternative plasticizers and compared their toxicity with that of DEHP. In respect to reproductive toxicity in animal studies DEHP induces more severe effects compared with some of the alternatives. A risk assessment of these available alternative plasticizers could not be performed due to a lack of exposure data from medical devices. Each alternative to DEHP, however, must also be evaluated with regard to their functionality in respect to medical devices. The risk and benefits of using alternative plasticizers should be evaluated case by case.

Chemical approaches to cryopreservation

“…Red blood cells stored in glycerol require a lengthy deglycerolization process to safely remove the cryoprotectant while also avoiding osmotic shock 14 . DMSO has been shown to cause epigenetic changes in hepatic microtissues 15 , induce differentiation in embryonic stem cells 16 and has potentially contributed to the leaching of plasticizers from cell storage bags 17 . In addition, DMSO can cause adverse effects in patients who receive cryopreserved transplanted material (noting that the clinical benefits of the transplant outweigh this) 18 , 19 .…”