In June 2021, New Zealand's Environment Minister David Parker announced that the New Zealand government was about to launch a plastics phase-out and committed to phasing out all food and beverage packaging containing PVC by mid-2025. As more and more countries and regions promulgate decrees to phase out PVC food packaging, the ban on PVC food packaging has become an international trend.
So, what is PVC anyway? Why should PVC food packaging be phased out? What impact will it have on our lives?
What is PVC?
PVC (Polyvinyl chloride), is a polymer of vinyl chloride. PVC is one of the most widely used and produced plastic products in the world. We are surrounded by learning tools, toys, food cling film, raincoats, furniture, water pipes, medical equipment, construction materials and so on. However, the wide range of uses does not mean that PVC products are safe and healthy. On the contrary, PVC is extremely harmful to humans and the environment, and is even known as the "fighter of toxic plastics".
Why should we phase out PVC?
Reason 1: The vinyl chloride monomer in PVC is a Class 1 carcinogen
PVC products contain vinyl chloride monomer. According to the latest list of carcinogenicity of substances released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization, vinyl chloride is a confirmed carcinogen for humans, and if exposed to this material for a long time, it can cause damage to human respiratory tract and liver over time, and even pose a risk of cancer.
Reason 2: The entire life cycle of PVC is closely linked to toxic substances that are hazardous to human health and the environment
First, the production of PVC brings pollution to the environment. Due to the lack of petroleum resources, the production of PVC mostly uses the calcium carbide method. However, the production process involves or produces a variety of toxic chemicals such as dichloroethane, vinyl chloride, mercury, etc. In the event of an explosion or leak, the health of workers and nearby people is at great risk.
Secondly, the use of PVC can be harmful to human body due to the presence of various additives. Before PVC is made into various finished products, it is necessary to add different levels of plasticizers according to the softness required by the product. However, a large number of plasticizer toxicity studies show that plasticizers can cause cancer, deformation, mutagenesis. There are many types of plasticizers, the most used of which are phthalate chemicals. Such chemicals added to the product will have a certain degree of exudation and volatility, and will gradually migrate with the PVC base material into the atmosphere, water bodies, soil and other environments after use and disposal, and enter the human body through the flow of the food chain. It has been shown that phthalates, their metabolites and degradation products can interfere with the endocrine effects of the human body, leading to feminization of boys or causing precocious puberty in children, etc.
In addition, because plasticizers are insoluble in water but soluble in oil, they will leach out whenever they come in contact with fatty foods or containers.
In addition to plasticizers, heat stabilizers are added during the production and processing of PVC. Commonly used heat stabilizers belong to lead, cadmium, zinc, barium, tin and other metal salts, in the process of use, these metal elements will leach from the PVC products, bringing heavy metal pollution, endangering the environment and human health. Studies have shown that cadmium affects the kidney function of the human body, while lead not only damages the nervous system of children and hinders their IQ development, but also damages the female reproductive system and may even cause cancer.
Finally, the disposal of PVC waste can also generate pollution.
As PVC contains chlorine, if incinerated, it will not only release toxic hydrogen chloride gas, but also produce heavy metals and strong carcinogenic substances dioxins, which pollute the air and soil and endanger human health.
At the same time, PVC is difficult to degrade, and landfill disposal is not efficient.
If a large amount of PVC waste is deposited in landfills, not only are there fire hazards, but also harmful substances such as heavy metals and organic halides will leach out, causing pollution to the soil and groundwater.
Therefore, whether landfilled or incinerated, the disposal of PVC waste poses environmental problems. In addition, since PVC products often contain plasticizers and heavy metals, they can contaminate recycled plastics once they are mixed with recycled plastics, so it is not difficult to recycle PVC waste.
