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Label-less labels

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Have you ever looked around you and noticed how many labels there are? It’s something the average person doesn’t necessarily think about. Labels are everywhere. If you start taking notice, you will also inevitably discover something else … most of them are failing — fading, peeling, scratched, disintegrating, eroding. No matter how you look at it, the result is inevitable failure. 

Polyfuze Graphics

Beyond the dulling of colours and imperfections which detract from the label’s original design, in most cases, you simply cannot read important brand names or warning labels. When this happens to medical labels, which provide essential information, the results can be devastating.

From warning, safety, biohazard, medical waste, informational or instructional, to barcode/tracking or branding, labels play a vital role throughout the medical industry.

Whether you are a manufacturer or end-user of reusable medical plastics, here are several important factors to consider when selecting the right labelling technology for your medical labels.

The number one reason why most labels fail

Reusable medical plastics are made from olefin-based polymer or resin. This type of plastic is incredibly durable and possesses characteristics that make it ideal for medical applications. 

This type of plastic will inherently resist corrosive substances, will naturally expand with extreme hot/cold temperatures (which helps promote durability), and is resistant to harsh chemical cleanings, repeated sanitisation, and pressure washing or autoclave processes that are subject to occur regularly in a healthcare environment.

These plastics are a virtually perfect option for medical devices, containers, and more, but these inherent characteristics do present one seemingly impossible obstacle.

The traits that low surface energy plastic products possess also make them impossible to label with traditional labelling technologies. Products made from olefin-based plastics have a surface energy level similar to that of Teflon.

Surface energy is measured in dynes per centimetre. Although steel, a high surface energy material, sits at approximately 1000 dynes, polyethylene (a derivative of olefin) comes in at 30 dynes. For comparison, Teflon comes in at 18 dynes. That’s right, olefin plastic and its derivatives have a similar energy level to a material that is designed to ensure that nothing sticks to it.

Low surface energy plastic is an extraordinary material to use for many applications, but nothing wants to stick to them, including typical labelling technologies which were not designed to integrate with this type of plastic, and comprise incompatible materials.

Incompatible labels

Typical labelling technologies such as in-mould labels, hot stamps, heat transfers, and pressure-sensitive adhesive labels (stickers) comprise multilayer, incompatible materials that the surface of the plastic rejects. Given the simple test of time, the labels will continually fail, fade, and degrade during the lifespan of the part. When you factor in the extra impacts that are created in a healthcare environment, such as sanitisation or autoclave/pressure washing processes, this label failure accelerates.

Because typical labels are composed of multilayers, they eventually expose these underlayers and become fomites that can harbour harmful microbes for hours, days, and even weeks. They cannot be reliably sanitised and when they are subjected to harsh chemicals or cleanings, they degrade even faster.

Can failing medical labels help harmful microbes grow and thrive?

The answer is yes. Medical labels can become a contaminant similar to any other fomite found in the medical setting. Fomites can accumulate harmful microbes on their surfaces, which then become a means of infection transfer throughout a facility.

Fomites also include the medical labels found on objects such as sharps containers, medical waste containers, and more. When exposure or contact occurs, harmful microbes on that surface can propagate and can remain infectious (and, therefore, be transmitted) for upwards of several hours, days, or weeks.

When labelling failure occurs, it peels up, exposing edges, gummy adhesive, and underlayers that cannot be sanitised properly. The label is a fomite that can become breeding grounds for harmful microbes to grow and thrive, for days and weeks after initial contamination.

With the world experiencing a heightened awareness of how cross-contamination occurs, how disease spreads, and how fomites contribute to infection and contamination, it is time to re-evaluate how we can utilise an innovative labelling technology for durability and reliable and repeatable cleanliness without degrading the label over time.

Polymer fusion labels 

The only solution for low surface energy plastics is a label that inherits low surface energy properties. Polymer fusion labels were designed specifically to overcome the inherent properties of low surface energy plastics. These labels do what their name suggests, they “fuse” molecularly into the subsurface of the plastic and the label and the medical plastic become one solid piece, with no change in durability or structural integrity.

Polymer fusion labels use only compatible materials. No inks, no substrates, no adhesives. They are designed of a single layer of 100% compatible polymers that become a literal part of the plastic surface, rather than trying to “stick” to it.

Furthermore, polymer fusion labels help combat harmful microbes. They do this by literally creating a “label-less” appearance on the medical plastic. If you run your finger over the label, it feels flat because it is a part of the plastic after the fusion process. It cannot be lifted, scratched, or peeled up, which for typical labels would expose the gummy adhesives (places where harmful microbes can propagate). A polymer fusion label will never separate from the subsurface of the plastic.

They can be reliably cleansed, even with harsh chemicals, undergo autoclave or pressure washing methods, and withstand abuse for the lifespan of the part without ever degrading or falling off.

Ideal applications for polymer fusion medical labels

Polymer fusion labels are 100% compatible with olefin plastic and its derivatives.

Polymer fusion labelling technology solves problems for medical plastic manufacturers and end-users. Traditional labelling methods were not designed to overcome the inherent properties of LSE plastics and cannot stand up to the typical abuse which medical plastic containers and devices must be able to withstand.

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