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Cancer
Published in Carol Wilkinson, Managing Health at Work, 2020
The main use of vinyl chloride is for the production of PVC which is in turn used to manufacture plastic materials. It is known to lead to the greatest risk of exposure when vinyl chloride is polymerized to form PVC resins.
Toxic Substances and Hazardous Wastes
Published in Frank R. Spellman, Kathern Welsh, Safe Work Practices for Wastewater Treatment Plants, 2018
Frank R. Spellman, Kathern Welsh
Vinyl chloride—Most vinyl chloride is used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and vinyl products. Acute (short-term) exposure to elevated levels of vinyl chloride in air has resulted in central nervous system effects (CNS), such as dizziness, drowsiness, and headaches in humans. Chronic (long-term) exposure to vinyl chloride, through inhalation and oral exposure in humans, has resulted in liver damage. Cancer is a major concern from exposure to vinyl chloride via inhalation, as vinyl chloride exposure has been shown to increase the risk of a rare form of liver cancer in humans. The USEPA has classified vinyl chloride as a Group A human carcinogen.
Soil Pollution and Its Control
Published in Danny D. Reible, Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering, 2017
Chlorinated solvents generally pose more difficult problems for in situ bioremediation than petroleum hydrocarbons. As discussed previously, dechlorination, the first steps in degradation, typically occurs via anaerobic pathways. Anaerobic microbial processes typically occur at a slower rate than aerobic processes and, in addition, the dechlorination of chlorinated ethanes can lead to the formation of vinyl chloride as discussed previously. This is a serious problem in that vinyl chloride is more mobile than its more chlorinated precursors, and more toxic. Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen and its presence in groundwater can lead to significant concerns about the health and safety in exposed populations. This is one of the few examples where biodegradation leads to contaminants that are more toxic than the parent compounds. Generally biodegradation leads to lower molecular weight, less toxic compounds, and under aerobic conditions, more oxidized compounds.
Preparation and characterization of graphene enriched poly(vinyl chloride) composites and fibers
Published in The Journal of The Textile Institute, 2018
Yaqian Xiao, Zhuoming Chen, Binjie Xin, Lantian Lin
Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is one of the most widely used polymeric materials due to its low cost, chemical stability, and biocompatibility (Wilkes, Summers, Daniels, & Berard, 2005). It has been widely applied in many industrial fields, such as pipes, electric wires, window profiles, siding, and etc. (Xu, Wu, Lei, Yao, & Zhang, 2008). However, PVC has the limitations of low thermal stability, high electrical resistivity, and low brittleness, which greatly hinder its practical application. Recently, it was reported that the thermal stability, mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity of PVC can be improved using the graphene as additives. Vadukumpully et al. prepared PVC/G composite films using a solution blending method, and the results indicate that the mechanical property, thermal stability, and electrical conductivity of the PVC/G composites can be enhanced (Vadukumpully, Paul, Mahanta, & Valiyaveettil, 2011). Han et al. prepared PVC/multi-layer graphene (MLG) composite films using conventional melt-mixing method and found that the surface electrical conductivity of the PVC/MLG composites is less than 3 × 108 Ohm/square, and the result reveals that the blending of MLG can greatly increase the electrical conductivity of the PVC/MLG composites (Wang et al., 2015). However, there are few reports on the synthesis and characterization of PVC/G composite fibers using wet spinning.
Dechlorination of PVC wastes by hydrothermal treatment using alkaline additives
Published in Environmental Technology, 2018
Peitao Zhao, Tian Li, Weijie Yan, Longji Yuan
PVC [poly (vinyl chloride)] has been widely used in many fields, including agriculture, households, automobiles, packing, and toys to construction and electronic applications. In order to promote the mechanical properties of PVC, a series of additives have been utilized during its production [1]. These additives on the one hand improve the properties of the PVC. On the other hand, they also increase the recycling and handling difficulty of the PVC-containing wastes. For example, the phthalate and heavy metals released from the plasticizer and stabilizer might contaminate the soil and ground water. Takeshita et al. [2] has stated that the phthalate leakage from PVC products, such as blood bags, baby pacifiers and toys, can cause health problems. As for the thermal degradation, one of the most serious problems is the high content of chlorine in PVC-containing wastes. Because of that, it would suffer from toxic emission and generate a lot of hydrochloric acid (HCl), which could accelerate corrosion in the furnace and also lead to the release of harmful gases such as organohalogen compounds, causing severe environmental problems. In China, the landfilling [3], incineration [4] and composting recycling [5] are thought to be promising techniques for waste treatment and recycling. However, the large-scale commercialization of these processes is still limited because of the high cost, low efficiency and potential environmental pollution. From the viewpoint of energy recovery and sustainable development, recycling (including pyrolysis, incineration and mechanical separation) is a primary alternative to deal with the chlorinated organic wastes. Even if the recycling methods are applied for the chlorinated organic wastes, the pyrolysis oils from polymer wastes are still facing the problems of chlorine removal [6]. Therefore, chlorine removal from chlorinated organic wastes prior to their utilization has been recognized to be necessary and has received great attention from researchers.
Overview of biological mechanisms of human carcinogens
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 2019
Nicholas Birkett, Mustafa Al-Zoughool, Michael Bird, Robert A. Baan, Jan Zielinski, Daniel Krewski
Vinyl chloride is employed primarily (> 95%) in manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) – which comprises approximately 12% of the total use of plastic worldwide – and mainly in the production of plastic piping. Minor uses of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) include synthesis of chlorinated solvents such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and the production of ethylene diamine for the manufacture of resins.