PVC Awareness

Greenpeace have dubbed PVC as the Poison Plastic. It is the use of chlorine in PVC manufacturing that has made greenpeace give it this name. In the words of greenpeace "God created 91 chemical elements, man more than a thousand and the devil created one: chlorine." Greenpeace and its allies argue that chlorine and all organochlorines (i.e., compounds containing chlorine) threaten wildlife and people. They see an outright ban as the quickest and most effective way to improve environmental quality. Further, they claim that a "chlorine-free society" is achievable at modest economic cost.

The Misinformation

Arguments	Counter Arguments
PVC is difficult to recycle, resulting in much of it ending up in landfills	The Vinyl2010 recycling initiative, undertaken voluntarily by the PVC industry, is to recycle 50% of collectable, available PVC waste from window profiles, pipes, fittings and roofing membranes in 2005, and 50% of flooring waste in 2008 For more information PVC Recycling Initiative Vinyl 2010.
PVC releases remaining VCM (Vinylchloride monomer) in food and water, which can cause cancer.	It turns out that water from PVC-bottles gives (an insignificant) 1.9% less cancer, compared with water from glass bottles in a mega-experiment.
PVC can cause infant cot death	This was incorrect. Although the exact cause of infant cot death is not known one of the many possible causes is the use of mattresses which catch a lot of dust. PVC and other plastic layers prevent that.
PVC can give irritations and allergic reactions	It turned out to be the contrary: a lot of hospitals, especially built for allergy patients are using PVC as the preferred building material, because a lot of natural materials like certain types of wood and not well treated natural rubber (latex) can give severe allergic reactions.
PVC softeners, like phthalates, are linked to cancer and estrogenic properties	That may be the case, if you give massive doses to rats - up to an equivalent of 500 g/day for an adult human - but after hundreds of tests, not for primates (apes and humans), because differences in metabolism. PVC, including phthalates, is the only thoroughly tested plastic which is permitted for blood bags. In fact, you ingest near 0.1 g of phthalates per year by using PVC, the toxic equivalent of drinking 0.01 g of alcohol... per year.
Greenpeace is campaigning to phase out PVC in favour of more environmentally friendly alternatives.	In a study carried out by National Centre for Business & Ecology (NCBE) their conclusion was "The study team was unable to find conclusive scientific evidence linking the production, use or disposal of PVC compounds where best industry practice is utilised to substantial harm to human health. Likewise conclusive evidence of serious environmental harm resulting from manufacture, use or disposal undertaken to the highest standards was not found, although past and some current production/disposal falls short of those standards. Where there is evidence of harm to human health or the environment, evidence that PVCs form a major factor set against other processes or products was not found." Their comment on the Greenpeace web site information: "One problem with the Greenpeace literature, however, is its lack of selectivity or of any critical appraisal. All studies, ranging the methodologically-hopeless to those of the highest quality are all quoted as if they are equivalent sources of damning information on the PVC industry"
Governments and industry are taking action to eliminate PVC.	In the mid 90's In some European towns, states and countries a political ban was voted on the use of PVC. Several European towns and states, including Berlin, Lengerich, The Netherlands and Belgium are withdrawing or softening earlier decisions on banning PVC, after thorough examination of the scientific evidence, when comparing PVC with other materials on energy use, the use of non-renewable resources, air- and water pollution during manufacturing, use, recycling and deposit. In all cases PVC was found to be one of the least problematic materials. In the Netherlands, PVC was (voluntary) restricted for use in packing, because of the fear for more dioxins when burned in incinerators. After thorough research, this was found not to be right and the restriction is lifted now. In Belgium there was an ecotax voted on PVC bottles for mineral water. After two years of investigation, the scientific analyses of PVC, PET and glass bottles didn't give any reason to exclude one of these materials on environmental grounds, so the ecotax is withdrawn now. A years long study by the German Enquete-Kommission of the Bundestag (the German parliament) revealed, that there was no reason to exchange PVC for alternatives, '...an exchange of PVC by other materials is not recommended. That gives the danger of a shift of problems, even a possible worse situation'. A lot of towns and states in Germany are reducing or omitting their anti-PVC-statements now. In Sweden there was a meeting between industry, scientists, politicians and Greenpeace about the future of PVC. All scientists present, including those of the Swedish EPA, refuted a ban on PVC. Only the environmental minister stands behind Greenpeace...