Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

CENTER FOR HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND JUSTICE Acknowledgements Authors and The release of this guide is sponsored by the Center for Researchers Health, Environment and Justice’s PVC Campaign. Jeannie Liu Michael Schade CHEJ’s PVC Campaign is coordinated by the BE SAFE Heather Simpson Campaign of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. CHEJ greatly appreciates the support of the Bel- don Fund, CS Fund, the John Merck Fund, the Kendeda Layout and Design Fund, Marisla Foundation, New York Community Trust, Park Oludamilare Olugbuyi Foundation, Patagonia, and the Robert Sterling Clark Foun- Gregory Kolen II dation for its work to promote precaution and prevention. The authors of this guide wish to gratefully acknowledge About the Center for all those who contributed by defining its scope, providing information, and reviewing the report drafts. Without them, Health, Environment it would not have been such a comprehensive, grounded, or and Justice useful tool. CHEJ mentors a movement building healthier communities The conclusions and recommendations in this report are by empowering people to pre- those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views vent harm through programs of the funders or reviewers. The authors retain full respon- focusing on different types of sibility for the content of the report. environmental health threats. CHEJ works with communities to empower groups by providing the tools, direction, and encouragment they need to advocate for human health, to prevent harm and to work towards enironmental integ- rity. Following her successful effort to pervent further harm for families living in contami- The Center for Health, Environment and Justice nated Love Canal, Lois Gibbs PO BOX 6806 founded CHEJ to continue the Falls Church, VA 22040-6806 journey. CHEJ has assisted www.chej.org over 10,000 groups nation- 703-237-2249 wide. I PASS UP THE POISON Plastic: THE PVC-FREE GUIDE FOR YOUR FAMILY & HOME Table of Contents Acknowledgements I Introduction 1 Top Ten Reasons for Buying PVC-Free Products 3 Quick Tips for Avoiding PVC, the Poison Plastic 7 PVC-Free Products and Suppliers 12 Common Household Products and Packaging That May Contain PVC 36 It’s Not Just PVC - Other Toxic Plastics to Avoid 38 Learn More! Websites, Books and Other Resources 39 References 41 Appendix A: Cheat Sheet to Common Plastic Acronyms 47 Get Involved! Top Five Ways to Take Action for Safe Consumer Products 48 II CENTER FOR HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND JUSTICE Introduction Polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl) is the worst he Center for Health, Environment plastic for our health and environment, Tand Justice (CHEJ) has created releasing dangerous chemicals that can this new guide to empower you to make cause cancer from manufacture to dis- smarter, healthier shopping choices for your posal. PVC products often contain danger- family, home and environment. ous toxic additives such as phthalates and lead, which can leach out and pose dangers We’re faced with a seemingly infinite num- to consumers. The vast majority of PVC ber of choices when shopping for products, manufactured is used in the production of yet often have little information about the building materials, however it’s also used toxic chemicals used to manufacture them. We have the right to know what chemicals are in the products we are purchasing and if chemicals pose health risks for our families, the workers and communities where they’re manufactured and disposed in. Corporations need to take action to phase out highly toxic chemicals that poison workers and communities from production to disposal. They have a fundamental responsibility to ensure chemicals and products are not harmful to their workers, neighbors, and global environment. As consumers, we also need to take personal responsibility for the health and environmental impacts of the products we pur- chase – and think more holistically about their lifecycle. The health and well-being of communities where products are manufactured and dumped impact our collective quality of life. Moreover, with finite resources available, many people are asking themselves the hard question of whether or not we really need all of these products that clutter our lives. 1 PASS UP THE POISON Plastic: THE PVC-FREE GUIDE FOR YOUR FAMILY & HOME in many other consumer products such cally replace PVC, see Appendix A: Cheat as children’s toys, shower curtains, office Sheet to Common Plastic Acronyms for a supplies and packaging (see the Common listing of these plastics and their acronyms. Household Products and Packaging That May Contain PVC section). You can help build consumer conscious- ness and demand for safer, healthier prod- The Center for Health, Environment, and ucts by purchasing PVC-free products. By Justice put together Pass Up the Poi- doing so, we can all help to phase out PVC son Plastic to empower you to find safer and promote safer substitutes. solutions to polyvinyl chloride, the poison plastic. The guide lists the most common consumer products made out of PVC and safer PVC-free alternatives. A growing number of companies have committed to phase PVC out of their products and have vowed to create safer and healthier alternatives for their customers. Visit CHEJ’s PVC Campaign website to learn about these initiatives: www.be- safenet.com/pvc Safer and cost-effective alternatives are already available for virtually every PVC prod- uct on the market (see the Quick Tips for Avoiding PVC, the Poison Plastic and PVC-Free Products and Suppliers sections). Alter- native products can be made from safer plastics, sustain- able bio-based materials, and most importantly organic materials instead of hazardous PVC. For a listing of common plastics that typi- 2 CENTER FOR HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND JUSTICE Top Ten Reasons to Buy PVC-Free Products is manufactured or burned as a waste olyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic poses material, or accidentally in landfill fires, Pserious environmental and health building and motor vehicle fires, numerous threats at all stages of its lifecycle: from dioxins are formed and released into the air manufacturing to use to disposal (Thornton or water. The term ‘dioxin’ refers to a family 2002). Here are the top ten reasons con- of chemicals that are unintentionally made. sumers should look for PVC-free products. They are generated as by-products during To learn more, consult the Learn More! production and disposal of chlorinated Websites, Books and Other Resources sec- compounds including PVC. Dioxins are a tion. highly toxic group of chemicals that build up in the food chain, cause cancer and can 1. The Production of PVC Involves harm the immune and reproductive systems Cancer-Causing Chemicals (USDHHS 2002, WHO 1997, Birnbaum and Farland 2003). Dioxins have been targeted PVC products are made from toxic for global phase out by the Stockholm chemicals. Three chemicals are at the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants core of PVC production: chlorine gas is (UNEP 2000). Dioxins have also been converted into ethylene dichloride (EDC), targeted for virtual elimination in the Great which is then converted into vinyl chloride Lakes through the U.S. and Canadian Great monomer (VCM), which is then converted Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy (USEPA into PVC (Thornton 2002). Both VCM 2006). and EDC are extremely hazardous. Vinyl chloride, the key building block of PVC, 3. PVC is Harmful to Workers causes a rare form of liver cancer, and damages the liver and central nervous Studies have documented links between system (Kielhorn 2000). Vinyl chloride is working in PVC facilities and the increased one of the few chemicals the U.S. EPA likelihood of developing diseases including classifies as a known human carcinogen angiosarcoma, a rare form of liver cancer (ATSDR 2006). EDC is a probable human (Creech 1974), brain cancer (Lewis 2002), carcinogen that also affects the central lung and liver cancer (Mastrangelo 2003, nervous system and damages the liver Gennaro 2003), lymphomas, leukemia, (USEPA 2007). and liver cirrhosis (Gennaro 2003). Workplace exposures in PVC facilities 2. PVC Leads to Dioxin Formation have been significantly reduced from the levels of the 1960s, however there is The formation of dioxin is a major no threshold below which vinyl chloride concern in PVC’s lifecycle. When PVC monomer (VCM), a major constituent in 3 PASS UP THE POISON Plastic: THE PVC-FREE GUIDE FOR YOUR FAMILY & HOME PVC production, does not increase the contaminated groundwater (Lewis 1999). risk of cancer. Thus, current exposures in the U.S. continue to pose cancer hazards 5. PVC: Second Largest User of Mercury to workers. Furthermore, occupational Globally exposure to VCM remains extremely high in some facilities in Eastern Europe and Asia Mercury is used to produce chlorine gas. (Thornton 2002). There is also evidence In China and Russia, mercury is also used of increased risk of developing cancer to make vinyl chloride monomer, the basic for workers exposed to dioxins in PVC building block of PVC (NRDC 2006). This plants (Steenland 2004, Hardell 2003). In use accounts for an astonishing 20% of addition to chronic diseases, PVC workers global mercury consumption (700 tons), face deadly hazards from accidents and the second largest sector globally (Bailey explosions on the job at PVC manufacturing 2007). Mercury is a potent neurological plants (Steingraber 2005, USCSB 2007). 4. PVC Pollutes the Air and Groundwater of Surrounding Communities PVC chemical plants are often located in or near low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, such as Mossville, Louisiana, making the production of PVC a major environmental justice concern. Reveilletown, Louisiana was once a small African-American town adjacent to a PVC facility owned by Georgia-Gulf. In the 1980s, after a groundwater toxic plume of and reproductive toxin that accumulates vinyl chloride began to seep under homes, primarily as methyl mercury in aquatic food Georgia-Gulf agreed to permanently chains (NAS 2000).

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