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 Media Center > News Releases
News Release
For Immediate Release: December 7, 2004
U.S. FACING WASTE CRISIS FROM DISPOSAL OF
70 BILLION POUNDS OF PVC IN NEXT DECADE
Pervasive PVC Plastic Used in Baby Shampoo Bottles,
Blister Packs and Toys Poses Serious Environmental and
Health Threats According to New Study
Campaign Launched Urging Johnson & Johnson and
Microsoft
to Switch to Available Safe Materials and Join Many
Companies Phasing out PVC
(Washington DC) The United States is facing a
looming waste crisis with a conservative estimate of 70
billion pounds of PVC plastic (polyvinyl chloride) slated
for disposal in the next decade. Disposal rates are
expected to sharply increase as an estimated 125 billion
pounds of PVC installed in the last 40 years in
construction and other long lasting uses will need to be
disposed of as it reaches the end of its useful
life. This pervasive “poison plastic” is used in
thousands of products including pipes, building materials
(such as vinyl siding), consumer products (such as toys or
tablecloths) and disposable packaging, and cannot be
disposed of safely. From 1966 to 2002, an estimated
250 billion pounds of PVC was used in the U.S., with a
doubling of use in the past 15 years alone. A new
report, PVC: Bad News Come in Threes, documents the health and environmental hazards during
manufacturing, product use and disposal, and provides
detailed state and national estimates on PVC waste
incinerated and landfilled.
Several communities near incinerators are concerned about
increased cancer rates linked to dioxin emissions—burning
PVC plastic forms dioxins, a highly toxic group of
chemicals linked to cancer. Many PVC products are made
with toxic additives including phthalates and organotins
that can be released during use, and leach into
groundwater when landfilled. Studies have shown
plasticizers such as phthalates have migrated out of PVC
containers used to store food, IV bags used to hold blood,
toys and numerous other soft vinyl products, exposing
people to toxic additives. And, consumers that recycle PVC
bottles are unaware that it can contaminate the entire
recycling batch.
The Center for Health, Environment & Justice’s (CHEJ)
BE SAFE network kicked off a campaign to convince
Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft to switch to
available, safe non-PVC products and packaging as Bristol
Meyers, Samsung and Nike have already done. Many
firefighters who are concerned about PVC-producing toxic
fumes in burning buildings will benefit from Firestone’s
announcement in October to phase out 8,000 tons of PVC
used annually in their roofing. The two corporate targets
are large users of PVC packaging such as Microsoft’s
blister packaging on software products, and Johnson and
Johnson’s Kids Detangling Shampoo bottles.
“Some major medical device manufacturers are
switching from using PVC to avoid direct patient
exposure to phthalates, as well as the public and
environmental health impacts of PVC throughout its
life cycle,” said Ted Schettler MD, MPH of the
Science and Environmental Health Network. “Companies
realize that protecting the public health and the
environment is the right thing to do and makes good
business sense.”
The campaign is asking consumers to avoid PVC
products—which are often marked with a “3” or a “v” for
vinyl—and send back any PVC items to the manufacturer or
bring it to a household hazardous waste collection.
“We know enough about the dangers of PVC to take precautionary action and phase it out,” said Lois Gibbs who founded CHEJ and is well known as the housewife turned activist around Love Canal’s toxic contamination in her hometown of Niagara Falls, NY. “We need to tell corporations to protect our health and environment by switching to non-PVC materials. Consumers need to know that bad news comes in three’s—avoid buying PVC products which are marked with a “3” or “v” in the recycle symbol.”
PVC is estimated to contribute from 38 to 67% of the total
chlorine found in solid waste, from 90 to 98% of
phthalates, from 1 to 28% of the lead, and 10% of the
cadmium (Pg. 14 Report). Cadmium, lead, organotins
and phthalates are commonly released from PVC waste in
landfills (Pg. 37 Report).
Burning PVC plastic, which contains 57% chlorine when
pure, forms dioxins, a highly toxic group of chemicals
linked to cancer. PVC is the major contributor of
chlorine to four combustion sources—municipal solid waste
incinerators, backyard burn barrels, medical waste
incinerators and secondary copper smelters—that account
for a significant portion of dioxin air emissions; these
four sources accounted for more than 80% of dioxin
emissions to air based on a USEPA survey (Pg. 2 Report).
Government tests found residents of Mossville,
Louisiana—the location of four vinyl production
facilities—had dioxin levels in their blood at three times
the average rate and were breathing air contaminated with
vinyl chloride, a potent carcinogen, more than 120 times
higher than the ambient air standard (Pg. 19
Report).
Organizations released the report in 20 states, including
CA, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IL, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, NC, NY,
OH, OR, PA, VA, WA and WV. It is co-authored by CHEJ and
the Environmental Health Strategy Center.
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