Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) has secured another monumental public health victory—and we couldn’t have done it without you!
We are proud to have drafted, co-sponsored, advocated for, and secured passage of the historic Toxic-Free Medical Devices Act (AB 2300), which bans the toxic phthalate DEHP from IV bags and tubing in California.
And NOW — thanks to pressure from BCPP — Baxter International, the company responsible for making and selling the majority of the toxic DEHP IV bags in the U.S., has announced it will transition to DEHP-Free IVs not just in California, but nationwide!
As a reminder, DEHP is a highly toxic phthalate that is used to make PVC plastic more flexible. It leaches out of IV bags and tubing into the medicines and fluids being delivered and then directly into patients where it can create drug resistance and even stop chemotherapy from killing breast cancer cells.
Patient exposure to DEHP has been linked to serious health concerns, including breast, liver, lung and testicular cancers, infertility and a host of other reproductive and developmental problems. Seventy percent of the IV bags used in the U.S. are made from DEHP. The vast majority of those IV bags are supplied by one global corporation: Baxter.
The shift out of toxic DEHP will touch every hospital in every state across America where Baxter sells IV bags and tubing—impacting millions of people, from neonates to cancer patients and everyone in between.
This hard-won victory didn’t happen by chance, and it didn’t happen overnight. It happened because BCPP ran a sophisticated campaign that applied pressure on Baxter from multiple vantage points:
- In California, our “Toxic Free Medical Devices Act” created a powerful legislative mandate from the world’s 4th largest economy.
- We backed legislative campaigns in NC, MA, and NY to ensure the company felt mounting pressure from statehouses across the country.
- We mobilized hospitals and nurses to generate market demand for safer IVs.
- And our Policy team engaged Baxter directly — writing to the CEO and meeting with senior leadership to demand they go DEHP-free and previewing the consequences of their inaction.
We pushed them hard, because patient safety deserves a fight.
This is a huge win for BCPP, proving once again that our California legislative victories and market-based campaigns have an important ripple effect nationwide. And this isn’t new to us— we have been working hard to get DEHP and other toxic phthalates out of consumer products for over a decade and a half:
- Our Campaign for Safe Cosmetics drove DEHP out of OPI nail polish;
- Our Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act banned DEHP and other phthalates from cosmetic products sold in California and led to similar bans in OR, WA and VT;
- We also banned phthalates in kids toys in CA and then across the country.
When your health is on the line, BCPP doesn’t back down. We step up, we speak up, and we secure victories that protect you and future generations.
But our work isn’t over. Baxter’s announcement message is problematic because it:
- Downplays the well-established science on the dangers of DEHP.
- Delays phasing out DEHP IV bags to 2035 – 5 years longer than the CA law dictates.
- Ignores the devastating impacts on people and the planet by their continued use of PVC, a toxic plastic that Baxter promised its shareholders it would eliminate 25 years ago.
- Fails to disclose the safety of the DEHP substitute it will be using.
We are proud that our efforts convinced Baxter to pledge to stop making and selling IVs with toxic DEHP nationwide —and we could not have done it without your support which makes our vital work possible.
Yet Baxter has misled the public and broken its promises before. You can help us make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Your gift will help us keep Baxter accountable and ensure we keep up the pressure so that every patient—everywhere—is treated with IVs free of harmful chemicals.
Together, we’ve proven change is possible. Let’s keep the victories coming!
