What Is Vinyl Chloride Found In
Vinyl chloride has also been associated with mammary breast cancer.
What is vinyl chloride found in. In the environment the highest levels of vinyl chloride are found in air around factories that produce vinyl products. Vinyl chloride is a colorless organic gas with a sweet odor. Due to the hazardous nature of vinyl chloride to human health there are no end products that use vinyl. Vinyl chloride is a common contaminant found near landfills.
However test results may not accurately reflect the level or duration of the exposure or predict future health effects. However vinyl chloride has been found in the air near vinyl chloride manufacturing and processing plants hazardous waste sites and landfills. Function tests of bone marrow liver kidney and nerves may be useful in determining the effects of vinyl chloride exposure. Pvc is used to make pipes polyvinyl flooring and siding hoses cable coatings medical devices and plumbing and automotive parts.
Polyvinyl chloride pvc is a solid plastic material made from vinyl chloride. Exposure to vinyl chloride occurs mainly in the workplace. Vinyl chloride is a highly dangerous chemical used to make numerous plastic materials. In the past vcm was used as a refrigerant.
It is made softer and more flexible by the addition of phthalates and can contain traces of chemicals like bisphenol a bpa. This toxic chemical is a known human carcinogen causing liver cancer brain cancer and some cancers of the blood. Vinyl chloride can be found in urine and body tissues after recent exposures. Breathing high levels of vinyl chloride for short periods of time can cause dizziness sleepiness unconsciousness and at extremely high levels can cause death.
Although the industries that use this chemical have known about the harmful effects of vinyl chloride for decades it has only recently been identified as a known carcinogen. Pvc is made by subjecting vinyl chloride to highly reactive compounds known as free radical initiators. What is polyvinyl chloride pvc. Vinyl chloride is a chemical intermediate not a final product.
Vinyl chloride is not normally found in urban suburban or rural air in amounts that are detectable by the usual methods of analysis. Breathing vinyl chloride for long periods of time can result in permanent liver damage immune reactions nerve damage and liver cancer. If a water supply is contaminated vinyl chloride can enter household air when the water is used for showering cooking or laundry.