12/16/09
Over the past month, toxic chemicals in PVC’s lifecycle, have made headlines coast to coast:

• A new study by EWG found cleaning products, many of which are used to maintain vinyl flooring in schools, can contaminate the air inside schools with harmful chemicals.
• The American Medical Association came out with a new policy on endocrine disrupting chemicals, which are released by PVC products found in our nation’s schools.
• Robert DeNiro, stars in a new movie where he plays a man “who spent his entire life breathing in toxic fumes at a plant that manufactured PVC coating for telephone wires.”
• PVC fenceline communities breathed a sigh of relief, after they won an agreement from EPA, to finally start regulating air pollution from PVC chemical plants.
• The vinyl chemical industry, backed by Exxon Mobil, has announced yet another “grassroots” (astroturfing) association – the Flexible Vinyl Alliance.
• A new study by EWG found minority babies are born pre-polluted with Dioxins, chemicals released by PVC’s toxic lifecycle.

11/23/09
New PVC-Free Schools Campaign Fact-Sheets
CHEJ is kicking off a brand new PVC-free schools campaign to encourage schools to ditch the poison plastic in favor of safer alternatives. We need your help to make it a success! We’ve created a series of new PVC-free schools fact-sheets to help educate parents, students and decision-makers on the dangers of PVC plastic.
Click here to download the new fact-sheets!

11/2/09
Apple and Best Buy Make Progress in Ditching the Poison Plastic
The huge market shift away from the poison plastic continues. Apple nerds rejoice! This month, Apple announced the first ever PVC-free MacBooks and iMacs, making Apple the first major electronics company to completely eliminate PVC in these electronics. Apple was recently profiled in a report by Clean Production Action for their work phasing out PVC. In related news, Best Buy announced in their latest corporate social responsibility report they’ve made progress in phasing out PVC packaging and has set a goal of eliminating 50% of their PVC packaging by the end of 2010 (see page 38).

10/15/09
CHEJ Praises EPA for Developing Dioxin Cleanup Goals – Expresses Concern About Delays
In response to the EPA’s new plans for addressing Dioxin contamination, one of the biggest manufacturers of PVC in the country. The agreement came about after the EPA discovered “extensive” chemical pollution violations at their PVC plants in Point Comfort, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La during inspections. This is a big victory for community members who have been battling Formosa Plastics for many years, lead by fisherwomen Diane Wilson. Read all about it in the U.S. Department of Justice’s press release.

10/5/09
Good News! U.S. Department of Justice Cracking Down on PVC Chemical Manufacturer
The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a $13 million legal settlement with Formosa Plastics, one of the biggest manufacturers of PVC in the country. The agreement came about after the EPA discovered “extensive” chemical pollution violations at their PVC plants in Point Comfort, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La during inspections. This is a big victory for community members who have been battling Formosa Plastics for many years, lead by fisherwomen Diane Wilson. Read all about it in the U.S. Department of Justice’s press release.

10/5/09
EPA Developing Action Plan on Phthalates – Commonly Found in Schools
In a historic announcement, US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the Obama administration’s support of reforming our broken chemical safety system. As part of the announcement, Administrator Jackson also announced the EPA is developing the agency’s first-ever action plan on phthalates, which are widespread in PVC products. Over 90% of phthalates are used in PVC products such as vinyl flooring found in schools. Read the EPA’s press release.

9/24/09
PVC Packaging Found to Contain Toxic Metals Banned in 19 States
This week’s Sustainable Packaging Forum could not come at a better time as a new study by the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse found toxic levels of heavy metals in over 50% of PVC packaging tested. Read the press release here.

9/02/09
Ten Thousand Parents Say No to Toxic School Supplies
Parents across the country are banding together to give their children a safe back-to-school sendoff this morning by keeping toxic school supplies out of children’s backpacks and organizing to keep those toxic binders and lunchboxes off of store shelves. Under the leadership of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) and MomsRising, over 10,000 parents have organized to petition retailers to take polyvinyl chloride (PVC) school supplies off store shelves. Sign the petition here.

Sign the Petition for PVC-Free School Supplies!
We need your help to get toxic chemicals out of children’s school supplies. Today we’re launching our new Petition for PVC-Free School Supplies. Help CHEJ send a strong message to manufacturers and retailers of PVC school supplies – we want PVC the poison plastic out, and safer products in! PVC is the most toxic plastic for our health and environment – and is widespread in school supplies such as backpacks, lunchboxes and 3-ring binders.

Sign the petition now, and help us send a message to big corporations that PVC has no place in our children’s school supplies.