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However, when plastics first infiltrated global medical practice, they did so because of considerations related to patient comfort and durability. It was only after developments in the sterilization of plastics and the aggressive marketing of single\u2010use plastics that medical plastics came to be emblematic of hygiene as they are today. In this article, drawing from historical data and fieldwork in India, I argue that dependence upon disposable medical plastics is not just about infection control but also about enabling reductions in labor at the site of use. This labor is displaced into the future\u2014as new plastic production\u2014and downstream, onto waste management. Medical plastics thus function as a materiality of displaced labor in clinical settings. Recognizing this displacement effect is crucial to plastic control interventions within sustainable healthcare.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/maq.70063","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T20:19:43Z","timestamp":1773087583000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Plastics and labor: The case of disposable medical plastics"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"40","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3244-0372","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gauri","family":"Pathak","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Global Studies Aarhus University  Aarhus Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_13_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/13591835211066808"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2008.0304"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140\u20106736(10)61894\u20106"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_5_1","first-page":"107","volume-title":"Review of Healthcare in India","author":"Baru Rama.","year":"2005"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1590\/S0104\u201059702020000300012"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1057\/s41285\u2010017\u20100032\u20107"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_8_1","first-page":"157","volume-title":"Unpaid Work and the Economy: A Gender Analysis of the Standards of Living","author":"Campanelli Giuliana.","year":"2003"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_9_1","unstructured":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.2023. \u201cHand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings.\u201dCDC.gov.https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/handhygiene\/"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_10_1","volume-title":"National Health Profile 2019","author":"Central Bureau of Health Intelligence","year":"2019"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2021.114314"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/10643389.2022.2150495"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_13_1","volume-title":"More Work for Mother: Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave","author":"Cowan Ruth.","year":"1989"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356\u2010021\u201016736\u20108"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_15_1","unstructured":"Essential Plastics Coalition.2023. \u201cAll Plastics Are Not Created Equal.\u201d Essential Plastics Coalition.https:\/\/www.essentialplastics.org\/."},{"key":"e_1_2_13_16_1","first-page":"269","article-title":"Disposable Products in the Hospital Waste Stream","volume":"156","author":"Gilden D.J.","year":"1992","journal-title":"The Western Journal of Medicine"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140\u20106736(22)01941\u20109"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcrs.2019.04.018"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/03085147.2011.602295"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1467\u2010954X.12038"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_21_1","first-page":"15","volume-title":"Living Ethics in a More\u2010Than\u2010Human World","author":"Hawkins Gay.","year":"2017"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/17530350.2018.1463864"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_23_1","unstructured":"Health Care Without Harm n.d. \u201cPlastics and Health.\u201d Health Care Without Harm.https:\/\/noharm\u2010global.org\/content\/global\/plastics\u2010and\u2010health"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_24_1","unstructured":"Health Care Without Harm.2021.Measuring and Reducing Plastics in the Healthcare Sector. 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