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For many years, vinyl chloride is has been used in the production items that are common in our environment. It is only in recent years that the public and the government have come to realize the severe cost to human health that vinyl chloride presents. In relation to human health, vinyl chloride has been described as one of the most hazardous products ever created. The U.S. The Department of Health and Human Services has labeled vinyl chloride as a carcinogen

Vinyl chloride is an organic compound and widely used industrial chemical. A sweet smelling colorless gas when at room temperature, it is used as a chemical intermediate, industrial solvent and in the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)and other resins.It easily burns and is unstable at high temperatures. It is a manufactured substance that is not naturally occuring though it can be formed from the breaking down of such substances as trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene.

Various industries that utilze vinyl chloride in the manufacturing process include:

• building and construction
• automotive industry
• industrial and household equipment
• medical supplies
• rubber, paper, and glass industries

Polyvinyl Chloride( PVC) is used to make a variety of plastic products, including pipes, wire and cable coatings, and packaging materials. Vinyl chloride was used in the 1950s and 1960s as an ingredient in spray paints and hair sprays.  Until 1974, vinyl chloride was used in aerosol spray propellants.

Vinyl chloride has been detected in the air around hazardous waste sites, landfills and vinyl chloride manufacturing and processing plants. Levels as high as 44 ppm were found in the air at some landfills. The US Environmental Agency, in 1999, found 100 times the vinyl chloride allowed by law in the air near Mosville, Louisianna. This community is located near a large manufacturer of vinyl products.

Hairdressers were exposed to very significant concentrations of vinyl chloride when it was a component of hair spray.  Workers in the companies that manufactured these aerosol sprays were exposed to even greater concentrations of vinyl chloride.  Workers who make vinyl chloride or PVC piping have been subjected to the vapors of vinyl chloride.

Studies in workers who have breathed vinyl chloride over many years showed an increased risk of liver, brain and lung cancer. Some cancers of the blood have also been observed in workers. People are at higher risk of developing these changes when they are exposed to high levels of vinyl chloride in the air they breathe.

Vinyl chloride is a vascular toxin, and can cause the vascular liver cancer called angiosarcoma (a rapidly growing tumor). People who have breathed vinyl chloride for several years have changes in the structure of their livers. When portions which the liver they are changed into several other substances.Many of these substances travel through the blood stream; arrive in the kidneys and then leave the body through the urine.New substances, however, are made inthe liver and they do not leave the body as quickly. A few of these new substances are more harmful than vinyl chloride because they react with chemicals inside your body and interfere with the way your body normally uses or responds to these chemicals.

Some workers exposed to very high levels of vinyl chloride have problems with the blood flow in their hands, causing a deterioration of bone resulting in a condition called acroosteolysis, the dissolution of bone. This condition begins with a numbing of the fingertips followed by recurrent ulcers. Disfigurement as a result of bone loss occurs.

Concern is increasing related to the levels of dioxins released when PVC is produced or burned.People living near PVC manufacturing sites have shown elevated levels of dioxins in their blood through blood samples. Dioxins can cause cancer and lead to problems in immune and reproductive systems.

Vinyl chloride breathed through the air is the primary way workers are exposed but contact on the skin or eyes is also a factor.Nerve damage and immune reactions result for some people who work with vinyl chloride. The lowest levels that produce liver changes, nerve damage, and immune reaction in people are not known.

Tags: angiosarcoma, cancer, environmental toxins, vinyl chloride