Bennington, Vt.-based Beyond Plastics, a nonprofit group dedicated to ending plastic pollution, is pushing for federal funding to replace lead water pipes with PVC.
The group released a 56-page report on April 18 warning of human health risks associated with PVC and recommending state and local officials not to use the material and chlorinated PVC (CPVC) in their community water pipes.
“We recommend avoiding PVC plastic and CPVC because independent researchers have documented approximately 30 to 60 different toxic chemicals being released from PVC and CPVC pipe and their fittings,” said Judith Enck, Beyond Plastics president and former EPA Regional Administrator under President Barack Obama’s administration.
“While individual chemicals have generally been found at very low levels, we don’t know enough about the health implications of exposure to complex chemical mixtures,” Enck said.
For plastic pipe trade groups, the Beyond Plastics report is yet another attack on products that have been in use for decades and meet the standards set by NSF International (NSF, formerly the National Sanitation Foundation) and the American National Standard Institute (ANSI).
“The Beyond Plastics report is wrong. PVC pipe is safe after nearly 60 years of rigorous NSF testing – the legally recognized standard for water pipe in the US and Canada. NSF standards and approximately 10 million quality control tests conducted since 1965 ensure that PVC and CPVC safely deliver safe drinking water,” said Ned Monroe, president and CEO of the Vinyl Institute, in an email.
Founded in 1982 and based in Arlington, Virginia, the industrial group represents manufacturers of vinyl, vinyl chloride monomer, vinyl additives and modifiers, and vinyl packaging materials.
As Beyond Plastics issues a public call to ban vinyl chloride monomer, Monroe said, “Many local governments rely on PVC to bring clean drinking water to their residents because PVC pipe meets stringent safety standards and lasts 100 years or more.”
The issue is relevant now because the U.S. federal government has pledged to spend $15 billion to help communities replace lead-water supply lines.
Enck said about 9.2 million U.S. homes and 400,000 schools and daycares still have lead pipes carrying water from mains on the street to plumbing in their buildings.
Enck spoke during an April 18 conference call about the report, “The Perils of PVC Plastic,” co-released with the Washington-based Plastic Pollution Coalition and a partner identified as Environmental Health Sciences.
The Plastic Pollution Coalition launched a similar campaign in October, urging the public to urge local decision-makers not to replace lead supply lines with plastic pipes and to provide all homes with options other than bottled water before, during and six months after REMOVING.
The lead plumbing, found primarily in older towns and buildings built before 1986, can leach the toxic metal into tap water, where it can cause neurological problems and learning disabilities in children and cardiovascular disease in adults.
Beyond Plastics members recommend replacing lead supply lines with tubing made from stainless steel or unlined recycled copper, as opposed to pure copper, due to the environmental impacts associated with mining and smelting.
The recommended tube alternatives cost more, but are arguably similarly expensive in terms of labor and machinery, Enck said.
As for PVC and CPVC pipes, Enck says there isn’t enough scientific evidence to show they’re safe.
The Uni-Bell PVC Pipe Association, based in Irving, Texas, has not yet responded to a request for comment from Plastics News.
Bruce Hollands, the group’s executive director, spoke last fall when the coalition addressed problems with plastic pipes, but also noted that PVC is not as commonly used for water supply lines as high-density polyethylene, cross-linked polyethylene and copper.
However, according to Hollands, PVC pipe is safe to use.
“PVC is one of the world’s most researched and tested materials used to transport drinking water, and over 60 years of use confirms its safety and effectiveness,” Hollands said in an email last October.
The report also noted that HDPE can be used for umbilicals, but Beyond Plastics focused on PVC and CPVC and made a connection to these resins and vinyl chloride monomer. According to the National Institutes of Health, VCM is associated with an increased risk of liver, brain, and lung cancers, as well as lymphoma and leukemia.
Enck pointed out that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has banned the use of vinyl chloride as an aerosol in consumer products and the Food and Drug Administration has banned its use in cosmetics.
“Federal authorities have banned the use of vinyl chloride in various consumer products like hairspray … and cosmetics, but not in the pipes that deliver drinking water to our homes every day,” Enck said.
In its call for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban vinyl chloride, Beyond Plastics says the agency regulates water quality at the point of entry into the distribution system, when it exits the water treatment plant and enters the water line but not the faucet.
“This means that even if PVC household pipe were to leach significant amounts of vinyl chloride into drinking water, current EPA rules would not detect it,” the report said.
Enck encourages the EPA to get more involved.
“In the coming months and years, this new federal money will flow to state and local governments, and unfortunately the EPA has not provided guidance on what is a safe replacement for lead plumbing. They could, but the EPA decided against it,” Enck said.
Comments are closed.