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General product information from the manufacturer’s published product information; it is not medical advice and not a purchasing recommendation.
Short answer
Pebax is Arkema’s brand name for a family of polyether block amide (PEBA) thermoplastic elastomers: polymers built from rigid polyamide blocks and soft polyether blocks. Arkema sells medical grades under the name Pebax MED, which it describes as plasticizer-free and used in catheter shafts, medical tubing and film. Chemical resistance is grade specific, so the grade datasheet, not the family name, is the document to read.
What polyether block amide is
Arkema describes Pebax polymers as block copolymers made up of rigid polyamide blocks and soft polyether blocks. Standard grades use a polyamide 12 block; the partially bio-based Rnew grades, made from castor oil, use a polyamide 11 block instead (Arkema Pebax family page, checked 2026-10-30). Arkema states that Pebax MED grades range from soft, flexible and elastomeric to semi-rigid, across a broad range of durometers.
Two naming points matter when reading supply documents. Pebax is a registered brand; the generic material name is polyether block amide. And the family is far larger than its medical use: Arkema lists footwear, skis and ski boots, consumer electronics, antistatic additives, optics, breathable films, conveyor belts, appliances and wire and cable alongside medical devices and catheters.
How Pebax MED is used in medical tubing and catheters
Arkema names Pebax MED as a reference material for PTCA catheters and says it is commonly used in other complex cardiovascular catheters, medical tubing and medical film (Arkema healthcare materials page, checked 2026-10-30). For catheter shafts it claims torque transference, minimal modulus change in the body, the lowest hysteresis among thermoplastic elastomers, excellent kink resistance and easy extrusion. These are the manufacturer’s own performance statements. For what a finished catheter is, see the CASRAI guide to the central venous catheter; this page covers only the material.
Pebax chemical resistance: what the manufacturer states
Arkema’s medical-grade chemical-resistance statement is that Pebax MED provides good chemical resistance to most commonly used hospital chemicals (Arkema catheter and tubing page, checked 2026-10-30). The statement comes with no per-chemical table, named disinfectants or solvents, or ratings. A reader who needs to know whether a particular agent is compatible with a particular grade therefore cannot answer that from this statement and must request grade-specific compatibility data from the manufacturer or the device maker.
What a Pebax MED claim covers, and what it does not
| Topic | What Arkema states for Pebax MED | What the statement does not give you |
|---|---|---|
| Biological testing | Grades tested for USP Class VI and for ISO 10993-4 and ISO 10993-5; compliance letters available on request | The letter itself, which is the grade-level record. See USP Class VI certification and FDA guidance on biocompatibility for what such testing means |
| Sterilization | Gamma, steam and ethylene oxide (ETO) sterilizable | Cycle parameters or the number of cycles. Methods are compared in low-temperature sterilization method selection |
| Chemical resistance | Good resistance to most commonly used hospital chemicals | Any named chemical, concentration or rating |
| Hardness | Soft and flexible through semi-rigid, broad durometer range | A numeric durometer for a given grade |
The claims apply to Arkema’s medical grades. Arkema does not say the same of every Pebax grade, so a non-medical Pebax part carries none of them by implication.
Questions to put to a supplier of a device made with Pebax
- Which exact grade is used, and is it a Pebax MED grade or a general-industrial grade?
- Can the compliance letter for that grade be provided?
- Which sterilization method does the finished device use, and does the grade documentation cover it?
- Is there compatibility data for the specific chemicals used in your setting?
These questions follow from the gaps in the table above.
Common misunderstandings
- Pebax is not a single material. It is a family of grades with different block ratios and, in Rnew grades, a different polyamide block.
- Good resistance to most hospital chemicals is not resistance to all of them. The statement is general and carries no list.
- A brand name is not a specification. A product described only as containing Pebax identifies neither grade nor testing status.
FAQ
What is Pebax?
Pebax is Arkema’s brand of polyether block amide, a thermoplastic elastomer made of rigid polyamide blocks and soft polyether blocks.
What is Pebax chemical resistance?
Arkema states that Pebax MED provides good chemical resistance to most commonly used hospital chemicals. That statement carries no per-chemical data, so compatibility with a specific agent needs grade-specific data.
Can Pebax MED be sterilized?
Arkema states that all Pebax MED grades are gamma, steam and ETO sterilizable.
Is Pebax the same as polyether block amide?
Pebax is the Arkema brand name for polyether block amide; PEBA is the generic term for the material class.
Sources
- Arkema, Catheters and medical tubing, checked 2026-10-30.
- Arkema, Healthcare material solutions, checked 2026-10-30.
- Arkema, Pebax elastomer family, checked 2026-10-30.
Related reading: what is polymer science.
