Not all plastics are bad. Some are horrible. Do you know the smell that you get when you enter a brand new car? That is the smell of phthalates (pronounced “thalates”), a dangerous chemical leaching out of the car’s plastic seat covers and interiors. In most cases, the plastic used is poly vinyl chloride, also called flex, vinyl or PVC. PVC is a poison plastic. Its production, usage and disposal are linked to the release of life-threatening poisons such as dioxins and furans. But despite the dangers it poses, PVC has crept into every corner of our lives. The plastic water bottles you take to school, the flex banners you use for your Enviroclub announcements, the ubiquitous plastic chairs, the insides of cars, your slippers, the teething rings that we shove into the mouths of unsuspecting babies, intravenous tubes used in hospitals, flooring, roofing, printing ink, wiring, pipes — PVC is everywhere.
What makes PVC especially bad is the chlorine in the plastic. Chlorine is a highly reactive element. It reacts readily with all kinds of chemicals to form new compounds, most of which are extremely toxic. In 2001, the United Nations announced an international law to eliminate all uses and releases of 12 dangerous chemicals. All of them, including DDT, dioxins and furans, contain chlorine.
Chlorine has a long association with destroying life. It was the first gas to be used in chemical warfare. Subsequently, chlorinated chemicals like phosgene were used to inflict painful casualties during World War I. Many deadly pesticides (chemicals to kill animals) used even today contain chlorine. PVC is nearly 50 percent chlorine by weight.
In the process of manufacturing PVC, dangerous chemicals like vinyl chloride, dioxins and furans are released. Vinyl chloride is a carcinogen. People, especially workers, exposed to it can develop liver cancer. Dioxins and furans are the most poisonous chemicals known to science.
Acting like a chemical AIDS agent, dioxins and furans attack your immune system making your body powerless to resist diseases.
Virgin PVC plastic is virtually useless as it is brittle and unworkable. But in order to make it useful it is pumped full of chemicals. Chemical stabilisers are used to prevent the plastic from disintegrating with the action of sun or rain; chemical softeners are used to make it soft. Flame retardants are used to reduce fire-risk. Phthalates are used as plasticisers to make the plastics flexible.
Most of these chemicals are held together loosely in the matrix of the plastic. A particularly dangerous application of PVC is in soft toys for children. The yellow rubber ducky used as a bath toy, or the teething ring that we stick in their mouths to comfort them are made from soft PVC. This is loaded with phthalates. But the phthalates are held in the plastic like water in a sponge. When a child chews on the teething ring, it squeezes the chemical into the child’s body. Exposure to phthalates is linked to cancer, male infertility, and birth defects. Exposure to phthalates in their mothers’ wombs can compromise the genital development of male babies.
During disposal too, PVC cause problems. It cannot be safely reprocessed or burnt. When you burn any plastic, noxious fumes are released. When you burn PVC or any other chlorinated substance, you will additionally generate dioxins and furans.
That is the bad news. The good news is that there are safer alternatives for virtually every application of PVC. Some of the alternatives may also be plastics, but these may be less damaging to workers who produce it, and less polluting.
In your school, college and home, you can already begin by identifying the key places where PVC is used, and begin replacing it with alternatives.
In school or college, you can start right away by “Saying No” to flex banners. For all your functions, seminars and festivals, get your friends together and hand-paint all the banners.
The process of painting banners is fun; it builds relationships. And you won’t be trashing the planet in the process of painting.
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