This report provides the facts and a plan of action for one of the most important changes society can make to protect the public's health and the environment. PVC is a poison plastic. It has earned the title after decades of harming our health and environment.
PVC's destructive toxic life begins with manufacturing, continues during product use, and then creates devastating pollution problems when it is disposed. I cannot think of another product that is so destructive throughout its entire life cycle as PVC.
In Louisiana, families gather to talk about how growing health problems in their neighborhood are connected to the local plastic chemical plant's emissions. In Massachusetts, families meet to discuss the rising cancer rates in their valley and the nearby incinerators burning large amounts of PVC and releasing dioxin into the air.
I have traveled across the nation visiting neighborhoods that confront the hazards from manufacturing or disposing of PVC plastics every day. These American families find their homes are suddenly worthless and they are trapped in a nightmare of frustration—trying to prove the pollution from the plant or incinerator has caused the damage to their health. Many of these community stories are briefly described in this report.
Our country's fire fighters and first responders are worried about exposures to PVC's toxic fumes every time they encounter a fire. Consumers are concerned about vinyl plastic tablecloths or shower curtains that release toxic fumes, often referred to as "that new smell."
Parents are worried about the leaching of toxic chemicals from PVC toys that their children used in the past. The sad truth behind the destruction and harm caused by PVC, is that in most cases it is not needed. There are plenty of alternatives that are readily available on the market today.
On store shelves, consumers can choose shampoo with a PVC bottle (marked with a #3 or V in the recycle symbol triangle) or a safer PVC-free plastic bottle.
A growing number of responsible corporations have decided to stop using PVC. Irresponsible corporations, on the other hand, have refused to move to safer plastics.
An important part of this report is the well-documented fact that there is no "away" for PVC. There is no way to get rid of the product once manufactured. It is with us forever—a legacy left to the next generation. You can't burn it—it just changes to dioxin, another very toxic pollutant. You can't bury it—chemicals leak out into the surrounding soil and groundwater. You can't recycle it—it contaminates the recycling process.
This report gives us hope by outlining how we as a society can phase out PVC in the future, with clear models to begin that phase out now. You'll learn in this document about the many safer, affordable alternatives to PVC that are available today.
We need to begin a nationwide conversation, community by community, on how to phase out PVC. As consumers we need to send a strong message to corporations who are resisting the effort to eliminate PVC and let them know we will not purchase their products. We need to encourage companies to use their entrepreneurial ingenuity to develop new products without PVC, the poison plastic. And, we need to enlist all levels of government to pass strong policies to phase-out PVC.
We must move quickly. Generating as much as seven billion pounds of PVC waste each year cannot continue. We can't bury it, burn it or recycle it. PVC wastes will live beyond the lifetime of everybody on this planet—a terrible legacy to leave for future generations.
A road map for how society can eliminate PVC is included in this report. If everyone takes a step down this road we can achieve a phase-out and begin to safeguard public health and the environment. I hope you will join us and help to leave our children a healthier, more sustainable world.
