Is PVC The New Tobacco ?
As many of you already know, cigarette smoke contains substantial amount of harmful chemicals. Some of these chemicals are called carcinogens, which means cancer-causing chemicals. Cigarette smoke contains over thirty notable carcinogens.
Did you know that PVC is made from vinyl chloride, which is listed as a human carcinogen, in the Fourteenth Report on Carcinogens published by the National Toxicology Program! ! PVC generally also contains dioxins, phthalates, and BPA, which are suspected to be endocrine disruptors, which are chemicals that may interfere with the production or activity of hormones in the human endocrine system.
Research over the last fifty years – on animals and shows that vinyl chloride in PVC factories – causes a rare cancer of the liver called Angiosarcoma. This condition could result from either small dosages over a long period of time (such as with the factory workers) or one large dose in a small amount of time (as with testing animals). Cigarette smoke contains 5.6 to 27 nanograms of vinyl chloride per cigarette. This amount is not immediately harmful, but over time it can cause serious damage to the liver. PVC exposure is higher than these figures. Cancer is a major public health problem worldwide and it is the second leading cause of death in the United States!
Could the usage of PVC around us be actually affecting our health?
U. S. National Library of Medicine says, ‘Yes’. In the article, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) on their website, they mention that you can be exposed to PVC if you have PVC pipes, vinyl flooring, or other consumer products made with PVC. Exposure may occur through food packaging and containers or “shrink-wrapped” packages.
Don’t you worry, there are many solutions which are present in the market today, but as smokers don’t throw away their cigarettes, in the same way industry-men have been stuck with PVC for too long now.
But it’s time to change.
And the change has already started !
Rightly so, worldwide, PVC has been banned in many products such as children’s toys, stationery materials, etc. In several European countries, the usage of PVC as food packaging material has been banned. However, we don’t know how long it will take for USA to ban it, or if would only come as a warning signal. But, at least we have a choice of our own. So why choose cancer? Choose PE-based Forvara® Meat wrap instead of PVC.
PE films are 100% recyclable, Eco- friendly, BPA free, do not contain any plasticizers, stabilizers, phthalates or carcinogenic elements. We also need to note that, although in some cases cancer is curable but the impact of PVC causes irreparable damage to the environment as PVC can never be recycled completely. Moreover, If it’s burnt, it releases dioxin, a toxic element, which further degrades our environment. Every time you purchase a PVC product you not only endanger yourself, you endanger the whole planet.
