Welcome to my Environmental A-Z…today it’s the letter V…I have been heartened to hear how many of you feel like I do that we need to take our own steps to avoid pollution and waste wherever we can…especially at this time year when it is at its highest …Let’s all aim for a sustainable Christmas or as near as damn it as possible even one change is a result multiplied…

Abraham Lincoln is correct we need to act now to create the future for our families that we want…but at the moment we can only dream of…

The best way to predict your future is to create it...Abraham Lincoln.

The A-Z of the environment and Climate Change… letter V …

Vinyl Chloride…

Exposure to this colourless gas occurs mainly in the workplace.

Breathing high levels of vinyl chloride for short periods of time can cause dizziness, sleepiness, unconsciousness, and at extremely high levels can cause death. Breathing vinyl chloride for long periods of time can result in permanent liver damage, immune reactions, nerve damage, and liver cancer.

Vinyl chloride is used primarily to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC); PVC is used to make a variety of plastic products, including pipes, wire and cable coatings, and packaging materials. Vinyl chloride is also produced as a combustion product in tobacco smoke.

I don’t smoke my hubby does…HOWEVER he never ever smokes indoors whatever the weather a blizzard could be blowing and if he wanted a fag that badly he goes outside…I am certain that isn’t always the case I have friends who smoke indoors and it stinks…they are houses I don’t visit for that reason we always meet outside somewhere or my house where they smoke outside…

How are people exposed to vinyl chloride?

Workers at facilities where vinyl chloride is produced or used may be exposed primarily through inhalation. The general population may be exposed by inhaling contaminated air or tobacco smoke. In the environment, the highest levels of vinyl chloride are found in the air around factories that produce vinyl products. If a water supply is contaminated, vinyl chloride can enter household air when the water is used for showering, cooking, or laundry.

Jeez, are we safe anywhere apart from a sealed bunker with filtered air…

From Vinyl Chloride we get Polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl) is the most toxic plastic for our health and the environment. For more than 30 years, leading health, environmental justice, and health-impacted organizations across the country and world have been campaigning to phase out this poison plastic.

Fast forward to 2021…All current evidence supports the simple proposition that the use of PVC is problematic and that there are significant health issues at all stages in the lifecycle.
The majority of key components used in the manufacture of PVC are well
recognised for their toxicity and this is an inherent feature of PVC.

Vapor Intrusion…

Vapor-phase migration of volatile organic compounds or volatile inorganic compounds into occupied buildings from underlying contaminated groundwater or soil.

Vapor Intrusion commonly occurs when chemicals or petroleum-based products are spilt on the ground and emit vapors or gases that can rise into households and buildings. Other common products can give off vapor intrusion like gasoline, dry-cleaning solvents, paints, paint thinners, new carpeting, furniture, air fresheners, cleaning products, and dry cleaned clothing.

There are some health concerns when it comes to Vapor Intrusion including: 

• Eye Irritation
• Respiratory Irritation
• Headaches
• Nausea

The severity of these symptoms will depend on the levels of chemicals found at a site and the length of the exposure. If someone is exposed to these vapors over a long period of time, the risk of cancer or chronic disease will dramatically increase.

Volatile organic compound (VOC)

Molecules containing carbon and differing proportions of other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, fluorine and chlorine. With sunlight and heat, they form ground-level ozone.

Ground-level ozone is a colourless and highly irritating gas that forms just above the earth’s surface. It is called a “secondary” pollutant because it is produced when two primary pollutants react in sunlight and stagnant air. These two primary pollutants are nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Ozone at ground level is a harmful air pollutant, because of its effects on people and the environment, and it is the main ingredient in “smog.”

Smog is a type of air pollutant; the word “smog” is a combination of smoke and fog. Classic smog results from large amounts of coal burning in an area and is caused by a mixture of smoke and sulfur dioxide. …

An example of smog is a low-lying yellow or brown layer of air. Fog that has become mixed and polluted with smoke. … Ozone, a toxic gas that is not normally produced at lower atmospheric levels, is one of the primary pollutants created in this kind of smog.

Thank you for joining me today and as always I look forward to your comments…x