Plasticizer-Induced Stress Cracking of Rigid PVC and Polycarbonate

Flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the most common material used to manufacture clear flexible tubing for medical applications. Flexible PVC medical tubing contains plasticizer, the component added to PVC to impart flexibility to the inherently rigid PVC polymer. If this plasticized PVC compound is in direct contact with another polymer surface, the plasticizer can interact with the surface of that polymer and can often result in marring and or cracking of that surface. This interaction between the plasticizer in the plasticized PVC compound and the surface of a second plastic part can lead to reduced physical properties and, in some cases, catastrophic failure of the second plastic part in contact with the flexible PVC.