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(Plastics Today) -- Polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) has been a major target of the environmental activist group
Greenpeace for at least 20 years, dating to activism by chemist Michael
Braungart. The focal point of Greenpeace was dioxins. The Vinyl Institute was
formed in 1982 because of health-related attacks on PVC pipe by the steel
industry. Since then PVC has been under attack for questions surrounding vinyl
chloride monomer and phthalate plasticizers.
Last week new problems emerged. The American Public Health Association
(APHA) urged a reduction in use of PVC in hospitals and schools. Also last week,
an advocacy group called Clean and Healthy New York released a report
questioning the safety of chemicals such as PVC used in 72 mattress models on
sale in the United States.
For Allen Blakey, vice president of industry and government affairs at
the The Vinyl Institute (Arlington, VA), it was a bad week. "I had sensed that
direct attacks on vinyl had tapered off in the past couple years until last
week," Blakey said in an interview with PlasticsToday.com yesterday.
"Why? PVC continues to prove its cost-effectiveness in myriad applications,
including many high-value applications (material of choice for blood bags,
medical tubing, tamper-resistant packaging, electrical wire insulation, pipe
delivering drinking water, etc.)," Blakey said in a follow-up
email.
Blakey says that officials at APHA never called The Vinyl Institute to
check their facts and get perspective. As a result, there were some statements
in the APHA resolution that were outright wrong. Lead and cadmium, for example,
are no longer used as stabilizers in PVC. He also faults the APHA for making no
mention of what he describes as a positive review of phthalate plasticizers by
industry groups where they didn't find actual problems despite more than
60 years of use.
mrcplast.com
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