From the Tampa Bay Online and story about how a toxic plume is threatening the water supply with cancer causing chemicals such as TCE and Vinyl Chloride.
A toxic plume of industrial waste discovered by workers building the Pinellas Trail 17 years ago is now coursing through groundwater under Abel's Azalea neighborhood, beneath parks, playgrounds and hundreds of homes, according to samples drawn from test wells.
Source: TBO Online
General
Synonyms: vinyl chloride monomer, monochloroethylene, ethylene monochloride, monochloroethene, VC, VCM, chloroethene, chloroethylene
Molecular formula: C2H3Cl
CAS No: 75-01-4
EINECS No: 200-831-0
Annex I Index No: 602-023-00-7
Physical data
Appearance: colourless gas
Melting point: -153.7 C
Boiling point: -13.9 C
Vapour density: 2.2 (air = 1)
Vapour pressure: 2580 mm Hg at 20 C
Density (g cm-3): 0.9106
Flash point: -61 C (closed cup)
Explosion limits:
Autoignition temperature:
Water solubility: 0.11 g 100 cm-3 at 25 C
Critical temperature: 156.5 C
From the Africa Science News a call to recycle and reduce PVC usage.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used plumbing pipes and guttering, shower curtains, window frames and flooring. Polypropylene (PP) is used in food containers, appliances and car fenders (bumpers).Continue Reading...There has been growing concern on not only the environmental degradation effects through the use of all these kinds of plastics but also their negative health effect to consumers particularly when used in food packaging. Many organizations are raising an alarm on the same issue.
For instance, PVC contains numerous toxic chemicals called adipates (plasticizers) which make it more flexible thus enabling it to be used for packaging food a and liquids, in plumbing and building materials and even in cosmetics.
It has been found that these chemicals leach out when the PVC comes into contact with food. The World Health Organization (WHO)’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has recognized the chemicals used to make PVC, vinyl chloride, as a known human carcinogen.
Also some compounds that leach out from Styrofoam food containers interfere with the body hormonal functions. It is a possible human carcinogen.
The first is from USAToday.com:
Toy Safety Steps back into National SpotLight: Toy safety emerged as a major issue last year after manufacturers recalled millions of children's products because of lead paint, magnets and other health hazards. Heightened concerns about toys helped win approval of a "toxic toy" law in California, which last October became the first state to ban phthalates, softening agents found in vinyl products that have been linked to reproductive problems in many animal tests and a few human studies.
And:
Baby goes Green: Organic Toys and Clothes a rising trend: [F}ollowing recent scares about dangerous chemicals in toys and other children’s products, more parents are following Cannon’s early example and searching out natural and organic clothing and accessories for their babies....
Chemical concerns
Iplay’s Cannon said that the U.S. is still catching up to Japan and Europe, which have much stricter standards on the chemicals that can be used in baby products.
The European Union has banned some chemicals that are used to soften the polyvinyl chloride — vinyl — used to make bibs and other items. The typical culprit is lead, already identified as a carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency. Wal-Mart, Target and Sears have started programs to get rid of some of these products under pre-ssure from environmentalists who worry children can ingest these chemicals by chewing on vinyl products.
I was skimming my Google News alerts today and came upon this blog post. Workers at Risk
The blog is by Donna Jackson Kazawa. Her blog looks to be worth a read and I'm going to follow it for a while.
Here's the post.
There is mounting evidence from occupational studies of the link between environmental toxins and autoimmune disease. In 2007, scientists from the National Institutes of Health announced a new report on exposures to chemicals and death from autoimmune disease. After studying 300,000 death certificates in 26 states over a 14-year period, researchers found that people who worked with pesticides, textiles, hand painting, solvents (such as TCE), benzene, asbestos, and other compounds were significantly more likely to die from an autoimmune disease than people who were not exposed. Other recent studies likewise show links between working with pesticides, TCE solvents, silica, asbestos, PCBs and vinyl chloride and a greater likelihood of developing autoimmune disease
From over at the Seattle Times an article about greening your bathroom has a section covering PVCs in plastic shower curtains.
Shower showdown
Pop in the shower first, and take a look at your shower curtain. Yikes! If it has mold or grunge (we've all been there), you need to clean it or replace it. Several cleaning-tip Web sites recommend tossing your shower curtain in the washing machine with a couple towels, using detergent and a little bleach. But don't put it in the dryer; let it drip dry.
Most shower curtains are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a plastic that can emit toxics into the environment, especially during production. When you need a new shower curtain, consider a greener, chlorine-free material called polyethylene vinyl acetate (PEVA or EVA).
As part of a toxics-reduction effort, Target currently offers shower curtains and liners made from EVA as well as cloth and is working to achieve a nearly 90 percent non-PVC level in its own brands by spring, according to Target spokesman Joshua Thomas.
We are involved with individual lawsuits, mostly concerning industrial exposure. Here is an article covering a lawsuit claiming that liver cancer (probably angiosarcoma) was caused by environmental exposure to vinyl chloride.
The family of a longtime McHenry resident has become the latest to sue two Ringwood manufacturers for allegedly causing cancer by polluting air and groundwater.
Next of kin of the late Edward Linnane filed the lawsuit late last month in Pennsylvania state court accusing Rohm and Haas and Modine Manufacturing Co. of causing the liver cancer that killed Linnane, 74, in 1993. The lawsuit is the 23rd to be filed on behalf of current or former McCullom Lake area residents since April 2006.
Source: Northwest Herald
Now people are worried about toys too. PVC Poly vinyl chloride is in many toys and plastic bottles in the home. Consumer groups are pushing to have these toys removed from the market. That idea is gaining traction. Already the European Union has banned the chemical and California moving toward that too.
After recalling millions of toys to protect consumers from lead paint, toy makers face growing pressure over another material, a plastic found in myriad playthings, from balls to dolls.Continue Reading...The Toy Industry Association, the manufacturers' trade group, says polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, in toys poses no safety risks. Still, retail giants Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Sears Holdings Corp. have started programs to get rid of some of the toys and other products that contain PVC, bowing to pressure from environmental activists concerned that children who chew on PVC could ingest dangerous chemicals. Some of these chemicals have been banned in the European Union and will also be illegal in California under a law effective next year.
PVC is a dangerous substance. It is dangerous in the factory when it is made and it is dangerous through it's entire life cycle to the trash. Watch this Video about vinyl chloride.
To learn more go to www.pvcfree.org
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