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High Country Conservation Center
Dear Eartha,
I’ve heard that PVC plastic (#3) is sometimes called “the poison plastic.” Why is that and what makes it so different from other plastics?
Monica Wilson, Dillon Valley
Before we get started, I should warn you that there’s some scary info in this column and if you get freaked out easily, please proceed with caution.
I have an innate phobia when it comes to all plastics because they are so pervasive in our world and they are a relatively new phenomena in our human history. But I have a particular distaste for PVC after I watched a movie called Blue Vinyl a few years ago about the manufacture and use of PVC, commonly referred to as vinyl.
PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride and, when it is labeled, is marked with a #3.
PVC is everywhere. Shower curtains, food packaging, floors, children’s toys, water pipes, siding, computers, and many other common household products are made with PVC. It’s all around us.
PVC gets its name “the poison plastic,” because of the life cycle of the plastic, which is toxic from start to finish. The Center for Health, Environment, and Justice (www.pvcfree.org) calls PVC “one of the most hazardous consumer products ever created,” and with good reason.
The manufacture, use, disposal, and recycling of PVC releases some of the most toxic chemicals we know of. Mercury, lead, dioxins and phthalates are all used or released in the manufacturing of PVC. In fact, PVC manufacturing is the single largest use of industrial chlorine. These compounds cause cancer, endocrine disruption, reproductive system harm, immune system damage, and other serious health problems.
What is most scary about PVC is that, while these chemicals are especially potent for children, its often used in children’s toys, bottles, mattress covers, and other common household products that off-gas through their life cycle. The European Parliament banned the use of toxic phthalates in children’s toys in 2005, but it’s still legal to manufacture and sell them in the U.S.!
PVC is also used in food packaging, which totally creeps me out because PVC is especially prone to leaching phthalates into fatty foods and at higher temperatures. Just think of that “microwave safe” #3 PVC container filled with gooey mac and cheese that’s zapped at high temperatures and filled with fatty goodness! In the past few months on the grocery store shelf, I’ve seen a peanut butter jar and a canola oil bottle made with #3 PVC!
Here’s where it gets really ugly. Because there are no requirements for manufacturers to label food packaging or any other product as PVC, its hard to know what is PVC unless you dig really deep and pay extra attention. Some cling wraps that we use in commercial and home applications to store and re-heat foods are made from PVC!
Here’s another frightening fact: that smell of a new shower curtain, new mattress cover, or new car is often the smell of potent gasses released from PVC. The EPA states that just one new PVC shower curtain significantly reduce indoor air quality for a month or more in a home.
What about recycling it? There are a few reasons the Summit County Recycling Program doesn’t take #3 PVC to be recycled. One is that there aren’t reliable markets for the product. But perhaps most importantly is that to recycle #3 PVC into a new product you have to introduce significant amounts of virgin PVC (including all those chemicals listed earlier) into the mix, in the end doing more harm than just disposing of it.
But disposing of it is a little scary too, especially if there’s any chance it could be burned in an incinerator (not likely here in the High Country, but possible elsewhere). Significant amounts of dioxins are released when PVC is burned (either on purpose or by accident) and all firefighters are aware of the dangers of burning PVC.
To make the story even worse, we go to the beginning of PVC, where manufacturing plants are disproportionately located in poor communities and where workers and residents around PVC plants have higher rates of testicular cancer, rare forms of liver cancer, and many other severe health problems.
There’s a wee bit of good news in this story: safe alternatives to PVC are everywhere. There’s no reason to put canola oil in a #3 PVC jar when #1 PET plastic is available! The Healthy Building Network (www.HealthyBuilding.net) lists alternatives to PVC for the building industry. And there are countless options for chlorine-free plastics for toys, bottles and more.
And, some major retailers and manufacturers have committed to phasing out PVC products. Giants like Wal-Mart, Victoria’s Secret, Nike, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson have all pledged to phase out #3 PVC. You can help others make this important change by writing letters, talking to store managers, or calling consumer feedback lines. And let your legislators know that European babies aren’t the only ones that deserve phthalate-free teething rings!
Eartha Steward is written by Carly Wier, Holly Loff, and Beth Orstad, consultants on all things eco and chic at the High Country Conservation Center, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to waste reduction and resource conservation in our mountain community. Eartha believes that you can walk gently on our planet, even if you’re wearing stylie shoes.
Submit questions to Eartha at eartha@highcountryconservation.org or to High Country Conservation Center, PO Box 4506, Frisco, CO 80443.
I’ve heard that PVC plastic (#3) is sometimes called “the poison plastic.” Why is that and what makes it so different from other plastics?
Monica Wilson, Dillon Valley
Before we get started, I should warn you that there’s some scary info in this column and if you get freaked out easily, please proceed with caution.
I have an innate phobia when it comes to all plastics because they are so pervasive in our world and they are a relatively new phenomena in our human history. But I have a particular distaste for PVC after I watched a movie called Blue Vinyl a few years ago about the manufacture and use of PVC, commonly referred to as vinyl.
PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride and, when it is labeled, is marked with a #3.
PVC is everywhere. Shower curtains, food packaging, floors, children’s toys, water pipes, siding, computers, and many other common household products are made with PVC. It’s all around us.
PVC gets its name “the poison plastic,” because of the life cycle of the plastic, which is toxic from start to finish. The Center for Health, Environment, and Justice (www.pvcfree.org) calls PVC “one of the most hazardous consumer products ever created,” and with good reason.
The manufacture, use, disposal, and recycling of PVC releases some of the most toxic chemicals we know of. Mercury, lead, dioxins and phthalates are all used or released in the manufacturing of PVC. In fact, PVC manufacturing is the single largest use of industrial chlorine. These compounds cause cancer, endocrine disruption, reproductive system harm, immune system damage, and other serious health problems.
What is most scary about PVC is that, while these chemicals are especially potent for children, its often used in children’s toys, bottles, mattress covers, and other common household products that off-gas through their life cycle. The European Parliament banned the use of toxic phthalates in children’s toys in 2005, but it’s still legal to manufacture and sell them in the U.S.!
PVC is also used in food packaging, which totally creeps me out because PVC is especially prone to leaching phthalates into fatty foods and at higher temperatures. Just think of that “microwave safe” #3 PVC container filled with gooey mac and cheese that’s zapped at high temperatures and filled with fatty goodness! In the past few months on the grocery store shelf, I’ve seen a peanut butter jar and a canola oil bottle made with #3 PVC!
Here’s where it gets really ugly. Because there are no requirements for manufacturers to label food packaging or any other product as PVC, its hard to know what is PVC unless you dig really deep and pay extra attention. Some cling wraps that we use in commercial and home applications to store and re-heat foods are made from PVC!
Here’s another frightening fact: that smell of a new shower curtain, new mattress cover, or new car is often the smell of potent gasses released from PVC. The EPA states that just one new PVC shower curtain significantly reduce indoor air quality for a month or more in a home.
What about recycling it? There are a few reasons the Summit County Recycling Program doesn’t take #3 PVC to be recycled. One is that there aren’t reliable markets for the product. But perhaps most importantly is that to recycle #3 PVC into a new product you have to introduce significant amounts of virgin PVC (including all those chemicals listed earlier) into the mix, in the end doing more harm than just disposing of it.
But disposing of it is a little scary too, especially if there’s any chance it could be burned in an incinerator (not likely here in the High Country, but possible elsewhere). Significant amounts of dioxins are released when PVC is burned (either on purpose or by accident) and all firefighters are aware of the dangers of burning PVC.
To make the story even worse, we go to the beginning of PVC, where manufacturing plants are disproportionately located in poor communities and where workers and residents around PVC plants have higher rates of testicular cancer, rare forms of liver cancer, and many other severe health problems.
There’s a wee bit of good news in this story: safe alternatives to PVC are everywhere. There’s no reason to put canola oil in a #3 PVC jar when #1 PET plastic is available! The Healthy Building Network (www.HealthyBuilding.net) lists alternatives to PVC for the building industry. And there are countless options for chlorine-free plastics for toys, bottles and more.
And, some major retailers and manufacturers have committed to phasing out PVC products. Giants like Wal-Mart, Victoria’s Secret, Nike, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson have all pledged to phase out #3 PVC. You can help others make this important change by writing letters, talking to store managers, or calling consumer feedback lines. And let your legislators know that European babies aren’t the only ones that deserve phthalate-free teething rings!
Eartha Steward is written by Carly Wier, Holly Loff, and Beth Orstad, consultants on all things eco and chic at the High Country Conservation Center, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to waste reduction and resource conservation in our mountain community. Eartha believes that you can walk gently on our planet, even if you’re wearing stylie shoes.
Submit questions to Eartha at eartha@highcountryconservation.org or to High Country Conservation Center, PO Box 4506, Frisco, CO 80443.
