In 2014, the US Environmental Protection Agency flagged vinyl chloride – a hazardous chemical used to make PVC pipes and other plastic products – for further assessment and potential restrictions under the Toxic Substances Control Act, a federal chemical safety law. But it took nearly a decade for the agency to begin that assessment.
The EPA announced last month that it is a 12 month evaluation period for five hazardous plastic and petrochemical related substances, including vinyl chloride. It is the first step in a potentially years-long process that could lead to a nationwide ban.
“This is very welcome news, and something that seems like common sense,” said Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney for the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity. The move is long overdue, she added — vinyl chloride has been known to be a human carcinogen since 1974. Chronic exposure is linked to liver cancer, and high concentrations can cause lung and kidney irritation and central nervous system effects such as memory loss.
Many of these effects are also documented in animalswhich suggests that vinyl chloride released into the environment contains risks to ecosystems.
Although the health and environmental risks of vinyl chloride have been known for decades, the chemical exploded into the public consciousness last February when A Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The train was moving hundreds of thousands of pounds of vinyl chloride, along with a handful of other chemicals such as butyl acrylate and ethyl hexyl acrylate. These chemicals spilled into the soil and groundwater, pollute some water bodies and killing thousands of fish.
The vinyl chloride that did not spill was burned off by first responders in an attempt to avoid an explosive chemical reaction; vinyl chloride is highly flammable. Experts later questioned whether that intentional burning was necessary, and it may have contributed adverse health effects for residents of East Palestine, incl headachescough and skin irritation.
NTSB / Handout via Xinhua
Jess Conard, Appalachia director for the nonprofit organization Beyond Plastics and a resident of East Palestine, said the disaster made her “extremely sick” and affected the rest of her family as well. In the months following the derailment, one of her children was diagnosed with asthma, and her husband began taking medication for worsening migraines.
“We had no option to test our bodies for chemicals, no place to call to report symptoms we felt related to the derailment,” Conard told Grist.
The disaster made international headlines and injected new urgency into environmental advocates’ call for a vinyl chloride phase-out and lit a fire under the EPA. In its wake, many groups have also called for reduced production of PVC—for things like pipes, construction materials, and vinyl fabrics—noting that more than 95 percent of vinyl chloride is produced for these plastic products.
“As long as PVC production continues, the risk of vinyl chloride spillage will continue,” three experts said in a February 2023 New York Times op-ed.
Banning vinyl chloride would do more than reduce spill risks; it will also address the adverse effects associated with the manufacture, use and disposal of vinyl chloride and PVC. For example, decades of evidence show that workers in vinyl chloride and PVC facilities face increased risks of canceralthough chemical companies have tried put down or suppress this testimony. Then, during their lifetime, PVC products – including pipes that carry drinking water to homes – can release dangerous chemicals such as dioxins and phthalatesas well as vinyl chloride itself. And when PVC is thrown away or burned — it is almost never recycled – it can release hazardous air emissions and toxic ash.
What’s more, people who live near vinyl chloride and PVC facilities tend to be disproportionately poor and nonwhite. According to one analysis from the nonprofit organization Toxic-Free Future, 63 percent of those living within a 3-mile radius of vinyl chloride or PVC production and disposal facilities are people of color. These residents earn an annual income of $23,747 per capita, compared to the national average of about $40,000.
Issouf Sanogo / AFP via Getty Images
Ned Monroe, president and CEO of an industry trade group called the Vinyl Institute, said in a statement that his organization is “fully prepared to cooperate with the EPA” during its vinyl chloride assessment, expressing confidence that the chemical will continue to be produced. “We believe that this risk assessment will further ensure that the production of vinyl chloride and the use of PVC products are safe,” he said.
Four major US vinyl chloride producers – AGC Chemicals, Formosa Plastics, Olin Corporation and Orbia – did not respond to Grist’s request for comment. Two other major producers, Westlake Chemical and Occidental Petroleum Corporation, referred Grist to the Vinyl Institute’s statement.
Despite the EPA’s new efforts, a complicated review process means manufacturers will have plenty of time before the EPA comes up with any kind of new regulation. First, the agency will spend the next nine to 12 months deciding whether vinyl chloride should be classified as a “high-priority fabric” — meaning it could pose an “unreasonable risk” to people’s health and the environment. Assuming the chemical meets that threshold—and the EPA expect it will – the agency will initiate a more thorough risk assessment by gathering input from chemical manufacturers, scientists and the public. In closing, “as soon as possible” but no more than three and a half years later, the EPA will publish its final determination in the Federal Register, including a specific date for companies to comply with any new rules.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups say there are many alternatives to PVC, the main material vinyl chloride is made from. For example, PVC water pipes can be replaced with pipes made from copper or stainless steel.
For Conard, with Beyond Plastics, these alternatives should be rolled out immediately, given the known dangers of vinyl chloride. “It’s insane to me to think that … we’re running this toxic chemical through town after town on a bomb train on a rickety railroad,” she said. “We have sustainable alternatives that will not poison our drinking water. Why don’t we use them?”
