By Tracey Easthope and Helaine Alon

You might have heard that PVC (polyvinyl chloride), the ubiquitous plastic used in everything from medical devices to flooring, is getting greener. At least that’s what industry representatives have been saying. It is an important topic because PVC is inexpensive, and with 40 years of engineering, the products have been refined to perform in many applications. Yet concerns persist about the environmental and health attributes of the plastic, which is why the recently released update on PVC is so timely and so helpful.

Perkins + Will is a forward thinking architecture and design firm, and they teamed up with the nation’s leading non-profit working on greening the building sector - the Healthy Building Network, to produce a white paper reviewing recent literature, government databases, emissions data and lots more to evaluate where we are with the “worst in class” plastic PVC.

The bottom line: Not so fast, PVC is still a problem. Some additional background might help make the case.

Polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC) is among the most commonly used synthetic plastic polymer globally due to its low cost, durability, and diverse applications such as building materials and health care products. Unfortunately, the health and environmental concerns associated with the lifecycle of PVC have been the subject of many critiques over the past twenty years, including the moniker of “worst in class plastic” due to its toxic ingredients and the huge volumes manufactured worldwide. Increasing public and governmental attention and pressure has been effective in encouraging the vinyl industry to shift towards eliminating the use of harmful additives.

PVC is unique among polymers in the use of chlorine and vinyl chloride monomer (a carcinogen) as a building block of the material. The process results in the production of unwanted byproducts including dioxins and furans, highly potent carcinogens, that can be released during manufacturing, incineration or disposal. Toxic additives can include lead and cadmium as stabilizers, as well as phthalate plasticizers like DEHP and BPA as softeners. These additives are not always bound to the plastic and have been found to leach into the environment.

Since 2008, PVC has been on the Precautionary List of chemicals of concern by Perkins + Will. That designation was warranted given the evidence available at the time that suggested the potential health and environmental harm from the product and the fact that there were superior, safer alternatives available for the same uses. Perkins and Will decided to look at the issue again in the new white paper, which reviewed contemporary research, primarily government resources, on the environmental and health hazards of PVC to determine if hazards were still associated with the lifecycle of PVC, from formulation, to use, and recycling.

The authors found that although there are some improvements in terms of the additives, the current state of the PVC lifecycle still warrants that it remain on their Precautionary List. The paper points out that given PVC is a chlorinated plastic -- it continues to be associated with significant lifecycle concerns including the possibility of harming workers, consumers, fenceline communities and the environment. They even found that dioxin releases were in fact 1,000% higher in 2013 than Vinyl Institute claims. Furthermore, only a small amount of PVC is recycled and few recycling centers screen their materials for toxicants. Thus, workers and surrounding communities are often exposed to toxic releases from recycling or disposal operations. Existing products on the market may contain recycled materials from older PVC products produced with toxic additives that are being phased out, leading them to create supposedly greener products that have a higher concentration of hazardous components than the virgin material. Even though four of the nation’s largest home improvement and flooring retailers are working on phasing out phthalates in vinyl PVC flooring, recycled PVC products are likely to still contain these toxic additives.

Health Care Without Harm has long focused on removing PVC from building materials and medical devices, including our work to eliminate PVC from IV bags. Currently, goals to increase the purchase of PVC and DEHP-free medical products, and PVC-free furnishings are highlighted in two of the four goals for the Healthier Hospitals Safer Chemicals Challenge. Further environmental health information about building material options can be found through the Quartz Project.

 Tracey Easthope is the Environmental Health Director at Ecology Center

  Helaine Alon provides communications support for our Safer Chemicals program