Sam Suds and the Case of PVC: The Poison Plastic.
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You know PVC and you don't know PVC: "New car smell? New shower curtain smell? That's the smell of poisonous chemicals off-gassing from the PVC."
Produced by Free Range Studios (http://freerangestudeios.com/) and Center for Health, Environment and Justice-CHEJ (http://www.chej.org/)
You know PVC and you don't know PVC: "New car smell? New shower curtain smell? That's the smell of poisonous chemicals off-gassing from the PVC."
Produced by Free Range Studios (http://freerangestudeios.com/) and Center for Health, Environment and Justice-CHEJ (http://www.chej.org/)
I'm not gonna let this video change my opinion on PVC at the moment, but I will say that it's gonna get me to do some research and see what these 'toxins' are all about.
Good find.
Even Nike is phasing out the use of PVC. I would like to have seen this video go a little further into describing the effects of the VOCs emitted by PVC. One that women need to be aware of, is the estrogen mimicking effect of VOCs, which basically messes up our menstrual cycle.
ABS.
http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/pdf/Rachels_Environment_Health_News_1534.pdf
#662 - Precaution and PVC in Medicine, Pt. 2, August 05, 1999
http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/pdf/Rachels_Environment_Health_News_1543.pdf
By Charlie Cray
Rachel's Democracy & Health News
.. . A careful examination of alternatives is precisely what the chlorine industry seeks to avoid. Their primary strategy has been to bog down the debate in interpretations of the toxicological evidence -- the "dueling risk assessments" strategy invented long ago by the tobacco industry.
The main front group for this strategy has been Elizabeth Whelan's American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). ACSH receives 76% of its funding from industry sources, including Exxon, the largest phthalate manufacturer in the world.[1]
ACSH hired Dr. C. Everett Koop, Ronald Reagan's Surgeon General, to spearhead ACSH's "blue ribbon" panel of 17 "experts," most of whom have ties to the chemical industry, examining PVC safety. Koop and ACSH concluded that vinyl toys and medical devices are not harmful.
In its extensive critique of Koop's study, Health Care Without Harm pointed out that ACSH only weighed the risks and benefits of medical products made flexible with DEHP (a toxic phthalate --see REHW #661), while ignoring the available alternatives --cost-competitive nonPVC products that are perfectly good substitutes. For instance, Koop said, "removing the phthalate [from the PVC product] would actually pose a significant health risk to individuals who depend on these devices [IV bags]." Koop ignored the fact that an FDA-approved phthalate-free IV bag produced by McGaw already has about 20% of the IV bag market.[2]
[1] Mark Megalli and Andy Friedman, MASKS OF DECEPTION: CORPORATE FRONT GROUPS IN AMERICA (Washington, D.C.: Essential Information, 1991). See also: "Public-Interest Pretenders," CONSUMER REPORTS (May 1994), pgs. 316-320. For an excellent review of ASCH's ties to the chemical industry and Koop, see: "The Junkyard Dogs of Science," and "Flying the Koop: A Surgeon General's Reputation On the Line," PR WATCH Vol.5, No. 4 (Fourth Quarter 1998), pgs. 1-6. Available at: http://www.prwatch.org/98-Q4/dogs.html .
[2] Health Care Without Harm, "Press Release: Clean Bill of Health, or Misdiagnosis?, Health Care Without Harm Questions ACSH Report's 'Confidence' in Phtalates." (June 22, 1999).
all jokes aside, its the plasticizers, flame retardants and other additives that they add into making PVC and most other polymers that create the toxic fumes. You cant just blame PVC for this, there are other polymers that contain the same toxic chemicals. At least PVC wont burst into flames like its less flame retardant cousin ABS...
...not that im a rep for Big PVC; in fact i think that we should focus more effort into developing non-petroleum based polymers, at this point the technology is there but there it's a relatively new process and thus very expensive to produce (a couple of bucks a pound vs. a few cents a pound for the stuff your water bottle is made of) plus plastics made from organic compounds are *GASP* biodegradable.