Deconstructing Devices: Identification of Materials in Medical Devices and Kits using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)

This dataset was created to support research by After the Single Use (https://aftersingleuse.net/) on the material composition, chemical content, and environmental implications of medical products. It contains information on the material composition of selected medical products obtained by manually dismantling these products into visible material components, weighing each component and analysing it using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to identify the materials present. An interactive version of this dataset is available at https://insights.sps.ed.ac.uk/infographics/aftersingleuse/, which also contains photos of the products this dataset contains. Please use this resource to help you explore and understand the data. In this version, each row of the .csv file represents a component of a medical product. Some components could not be fully separated into distinct materials, for example where materials were layered, bonded, or welded together. In these cases, the dataset records the component as a mixture of the identified materials, each of which has its own column. These identifications were mapped to the external chemical concern databases listed below. This dataset does not quantify the proportion of each material within that component. FTIR analysis is also limited to the near-surface layer of a material, so some substances may not be detected, including materials or chemicals located below the surface or present in very small amounts. Therefore this should not be interpreted as a complete chemical characterisation of the product. Products in the dataset are classified as either devices or kits. A kit is a marketed product containing more than one separately labelled and regulated device, often together with additional packaging, instructions, or kit-specific components. Each kit entry includes a list of the devices it contains, and these devices also appear as separate entries in the dataset with their own metadata. Product metadata was taken from manufacturer-generated product labels. In addition to product metadata and material composition, the dataset includes comparisons with two external resources: the PlastChem database (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09184-8) and the Chemicals of Concern for the Health Sector report (https://global.noharm.org/resources/chemicals-concern-health-sector). The dataset is purposive rather than representative and should not be interpreted as reflecting the full medical device market. Products were selected from a broader group identified by stakeholders who had raised concerns about medical plastics or possible forms of injustice associated with particular devices. These stakeholders included clinicians, manufacturers, researchers, and NGO workers, many of whom were connected to the After the Single Use project and worked across eight countries in both high- and low-resource settings. Some contributors also supplied product samples collected through their professional work. The dataset was developed through an initial review of the lifecycles of these products and assessment against inclusion criteria. We sought to include a diverse range of medical products, considering factors such as material complexity, place and setting of use, associated procedures, and cost. Selection was iterative: where early results suggested notable or unexpected patterns, related products were added to support comparison across manufacturers and product types.