In July 2006 , reports about health problem commence to trickle in from Hurricane Katrina evacuee who spent the previous year survive in trailers provided by theFederal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA ) . Instances of asthma and other respiratory ill were traced back to a chemical calledformaldehyde , which is also a known carcinogen . This chemical is used most famously as a preservative in the embalm process before funerals , but it can also be find in a huge array of modern products . As it turns out , one of these is the mote - dining table flooring and cabinets of many FEMA trailers . When the poke heat up up , the formaldehyde is resign into the air inside the poke , which could make the presence of PVC a factor in the innumerable health problems that are becoming increasingly unwashed among Katrina evacuee [ source : Brunker ] .
But those living in FEMA trailers are not the only hoi polloi at risk due to common household chemicals . Polyvinyl chloride , orPVC , is used in countless Cartesian product , from toy to rug to fakeChristmas trees . It is also used commonly in grammatical construction materials , like vinyl group siding . So if the chemicals in PVC may be dangerous , does that mean your vinyl siding is toss off you ?
Home Health Hazard Image Gallery
PVC contain chlorine , a hazardous chemical substance . But it also employs other chemicals to create the type of final product needed by manufacturers . For model , plasticizer – likephthalates– may be added to PVC to make a flexile charge card . PVC Cartesian product that are meant to be rigid , like vinyl siding , may haveleadadded to them as a stabiliser .
Because not all of the stabilizer summate to PVC actually bonds with the other molecules , some researchers think that lead can pass on the exterior of the open of the PVC . And lead has been shown to make brain scathe , learning disabilities , mellow blood pressure and even miscarriages .
Your vinyl sidetrack is generally safe , as long as you do n’t spend time lap it or stir it . you could get lead in your soundbox if you drink in liquid that contains lead , such as body of water that has passed through lead pipes . It can also enter through your skin , and , in some cases , you could breathe lead into your lungs . PVC sidetrack generally is vented from behind , hold back air from becoming trap behind it , and keeping most of the lead outside your home .
So far , the most studied risk of vinyl group railroad siding add up when it is burn , as in a housefire . As PVC burns , the chlorine in the material escapes , creating anacid smokethat contains hydrogen chloride . When hydrogen chloride enters the lung , it becomes hydrochloric Lucy in the sky with diamonds , an extremely caustic acid that can lead in internal chemical George Burns in a person who inspire it . This acid smoke is so potent that it can kill a soul inside a house fire before the flames or carbon paper monoxide does [ source : Montreal Home Inspection ] .
But vinyl siding isn’t the only enjoyment for PVC , and all of those toy , fake Christmas trees and carpet that are made of PVC in your home also pose health threat . discover out on the next page why PVC may be phased out of product in the next few years.
PVC: Poison Plastic?
Polyvinyl chloride seems like it ’s everywhere . In one fashion , it ’s a miracle chemical compound . It provides tools health care professionals need to work cheaply and effectively . It ’s created safer cars through softer dashboards that can cushion an shock during a wreck . And PVC has made modern life more affordable , with its use in cheap consumer good . Thanks to PVC , life story has become more convenient . But some grouping say that this convenience come with a toll .
The Center for Health , Environment and Justice , a non - profit organization ground in New York , calls polyvinyl chloride “ one of the most hazardous consumer product ever create ” [ informant : CHEJ ] . This mathematical group has launched a packaging military campaign against the production of polyvinyl chloride , called “ PVC : Poison Plastic , ” and produced a 2004 study , “ Bad News number in Threes . ” The “ Threes ” reference the numeral three found within the recycling symbolic representation on some products , which identifies those production as being made of PVC .
But just what exactly is so bad that it could be thought of as such a hazard ? for sure , bite vinyl is a problem , but how likely is your sign of the zodiac to go up in fire ? Actually , burn vinyl group siding is n’t the only risk tie in with PVC . And it ’s not justfirethat makes it risky . According to the CHEJ , the entire lifespan of the PVC textile is harmful .
The yield of PVC need a series of chemical reaction . Each stride releases waste matter byproducts , which may get into the atmosphere , groundwater and soil . fabricate chlorine produce other chemical , likedioxins , which have been show to causecancer . Some of these dissipation by-product are also sent to landfill by company that bring about PVC and its building blocks .
The panel ’s still out as far as what kind of issue PVC product have on consumers . Testing on science laboratory animals has testify negative effects , such as hindering goodly development of thereproductive system . But examination on human race has not been conclusively researched . Still , a report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that even though reputation of similar harmful effects on man by phthalamites – those softening fixings – “ there have been no study to rule them out ” [ reservoir : FDA ] . The PVC industry declares its product safe , but products containing phthalamites were banned in toys for children under eld three by the European Union in 1999 .
Perhaps the biggest problem consociate with PVC products is find at the end of their life story dyad . PVC product ca n’t be incinerate ( or at least they should n’t be ) , and their institution into landfill poses a scourge , as well . As PVC products break down , the lead , mercury , phthalamites and atomic number 17 involve in their founding can leak into groundwater , eventually making it into a water supply .
EvenrecyclingPVC products is problematic . Reconstituting PVC products into raw one is deliberate hard and uneconomical . PVC is create from chlorine through chemical processes , but it is n’t recycled easy . “ There are clearly very finite limits to what [ PVC products ] can be recycled , ” say a composition cited by the activist organizationGreenpeace .
The PVC industry is face great challenges . ship’s company are beginning to discontinue the use of PVC packaging , and others are block consumption of PVC all . It appears that the plastic may be reaching the goal of its own life bike . The trouble is , that ’s not going do much about the PVC that has already been make .
Learn more about charge card , recycling and other related theme on the next page .
