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PVC Facts
Polyvinyl chloride, commonly known as "PVC" or "vinyl," is one
of the most common synthetic materials. PVC is a versatile resin
and appears in thousands of different formulations and configurations.
Over 14 billion pounds of PVC are currently produced per year in
North America. Approximately 75% of all PVC manufactured is used
in construction materials.
Download this fact sheet (PDF File)
PVC: A major environmental health disaster
PVC is the worst plastic from an environmental health perspective,
posing major hazards in its manufacture, product life and disposal.
Toxic Manufacturing Byproducts:
Dioxin (the most potent carcinogen known), ethylene dichloride
and vinyl chloride are unavoidably created in
production of PVC and can cause severe health problems, including:
- Cancer
- Endocrine disruption
- Endometriosis
- Neurological damage
- Birth defects & impaired child development
- Reproductive and immune system damage
In the US, PVC is manufactured predominantly near low-income communities
in Texas and Louisiana. The toxic impact of pollution from these
factories on these communities has made them a focus in the environmental justice movement.
Global impact:
Dioxin's impact doesn't stop there. As a persistent bioaccumulative
toxin (PBT), it does not breakdown rapidly and travels around the
globe, accumulating in fatty tissue and concentrating as it goes
up the food chain. Dioxins from Louisiana manufacturing plants
migrate on the winds and concentrate in Great Lakes fish.
Dioxins are even found in hazardous concentrations in the tissues
of whales and polar bears and in Inuit mother's breast milk . The
dioxin exposure of the average American already poses a calculated
risk of cancer of greater than 1 in 1,000 - thousands of times greater
than the usual standard for acceptable risk. Most poignantly, dioxins
concentrate in breast milk to the point that human infants now receive
high doses, orders of magnitude greater than those of the average adult.
Terrorist risks:
A 2002 Rand report for the U.S. Air Force identified chlorine gas storage
and transport facilities as among the top chemical targets for a terrorist
attack and cited examples of a number of such threats and attacks already
carried out around the world. As a prime feedstock for PVC, chlorine makes
the PVC manufacturing plants and the trains that supply them highly vulnerable.
A simple terrorist attack could release a toxic cloud that would spread for miles,
potentially endangering millions of lives.
The best security is to switch to safer materials that don't require chlorine.
PVC production is the biggest single use of chlorine and so reduction in its use
represents the largest single step we can take to reduce the risk of chlorine
disasters, accidental or intentional.
Lethal additives:
PVC is useless without the addition of a plethora of toxic chemical
stabilizers - such as lead, cadmium and organotins - and phthalate plasticizers.
These leach, flake or outgas from PVC over time raising risks
that include asthma, lead poisoning and cancer.
Deadly Fire Hazard:
PVC poses a great risk in building fires,
as it releases deadly gases long before
it ignites, such as hydrogen chloride which turns to hydrochloric
acid when inhaled. As it burns, whether accidentally or in waste
incineration, it releases yet more toxic dioxins. PVC burning in landfill fires may now be the single largest source of dioxin releases to the environment.
Can't be readily recycled:
The multitudes of additives required to make PVC useful make large
scale post consumer recycling nearly impossible for most products
and interfere with
the recycling of other plastics. Of an estimated 7 billion pounds of PVC thrown away in the US, only 14 million - less than 1/2 of 1 percent - is recycled. The Association of Post Consumer
Plastics Recyclers declared efforts to recycle PVC a failure and labeled it a contaminant in 1998.
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PVC in construction materials
While the many problems associated with PVC throughout
its lifecycle far outweigh the benefits, the construction industry
has been unaware of its true cost and long considered it a cheap
convenient material. Piping, vinyl siding, and vinyl flooring are
the largest and most familiar uses of PVC. Roof membranes have been
a growing area. It is also used in electrical wire insulation, conduit,
junction boxes, wall coverings, carpet backing, window and door frames,
shades and blinds, shower curtains, furniture, flues, gutters, down
spouts, waterstops, weatherstrip, flashing, moldings and elsewhere.
Fortunately, for each of these uses, there exist a wide range of cost
effective alternative materials that pose less of a health hazard to
workers and the public at large.
Alternative options
- Piping
Cast iron, steel, concrete vitrified clay, copper, and plastics, such as
HDPE (high density polyethylene).
- Siding
Fiber-cement board, stucco, recycled or reclaimed or FSC
(Forest Stewardship Council) certified
sustainably harvested wood, OSB (oriented strand board), brick, and polypropylene.
- Roofing Membranes
TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin), EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer), NBP
(nitrile butadiene polymer) and low-slope metal roofing.
- Flooring & Carpet
Linoleum, bamboo, ceramic tile, carpeting with natural fiber backing or
polyolefins, reclaimed or FSC certified sustainably harvested wood,
cork, rubber, concrete, and nonchlorinated plastic polymers.
- Wall Coverings & Furniture
Natural fibers such as wood and wool, polyethylene, polyester, and paint.
- Electrical Insulation and Sheathing
Halogen free, LLDPE (linear low-density polyethylene), XLP and XLPE (thermoset
crosslinked polyethylene)
- Windows & Doors
Recycled, reclaimed or FSC certified sustainably harvested wood,
fiberglass, and aluminum.
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Join the move away from PVC
Architectural firms, governments and major corporations all over the world are
dropping PVC. A wide range of major corporations including Microsoft, HP, Shaw, Wal-Mart, Firestone, Nike, Mattel, Lego, Johnson & Johnson, GM, VW, and Honda have begun the switch to alternative materials. San
Francisco and New York State have banned PVC pipe. An increasing number of major
projects, from the U.S. EPA headquarters in Washington, DC to the 2000 Olympic
village in Sydney, Australia, have vastly reduced or completely eliminated use
of PVC. More government agencies are eliminating it from wiring, flooring and
other applications, including the US Navy, Air Force and NASA. References are available in the PDF version of this factsheet.
Replacing PVC in your projects is easier than you may think. A number of
resource guides are available to help you find green construction materials.
But beware: some construction materials labeled "green" actually contain
recycled PVC/vinyl and frequently require virgin PVC mixed with the recycled.
The Healthy Building Network web site (see below) includes charts of PVC free
building materials, plus links to some of the best of the web's other green
building resources.
What you can do
The U.S. Green Building Council has invited comments about its proposed
methodology for evaluating a PVC-related credit within its green building
rating system or LEED.
The first, and possibly only stakeholders meeting was held on February
18, 2004, in Washington, DC, but it is unclear when the USGBC will issue
its decision. (To read about the meeting click here.)
You can become involved in three ways:
- Send a letter to USGBC.
HBN has submitted to USGBC comments with specific recommendations about how
to move forward with a vinyl avoidance credit. If you agree with HBN's position,
send a letter in support of our testimony.
Choose the letter that's right for you, either from the perspective of an
environmental health activist perspective or a green builder.
Environmental Health Letter
Greenbuilder Letter
- Become a stakeholder in USGBC's PVC credit process:
Visit the USGBC site and sign up to become a stakeholder in the PVC Task Group
(www.usgbc.org). They'll send
you updates on the process as it develops.
- Receive updates from HBN:
Sign up for HBN's newsletter and we'll send updates on the USGBC process,
as well as information about the nationwide movement to eliminate vinyl from buildings.
Download this fact sheet (PDF File)
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