Electrical cables and plumbing - why avoid PVC?
PVC also known as vinyl, is one of the most hazardous consumer products ever created. PVC is dangerous to human health and the environment throughout its entire life cycle, during production, in homes and when it is disposed of. Harmful chemicals are released during the PVC lifecycle, such as mercury, dioxins, and phthalates, which may pose irreversible life-long health threats. When produced or burned, PVC plastic releases dioxins, a group of the most potent synthetic chemicals ever tested, which can cause cancer and harm the immune and reproductive systems.
Over 50% of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufactured is used in construction, in products such as pipelines, wiring, siding, flooring and wallpaper.
In order to be used, PVC is combined with toxic chemicals which can evaporate or leach out of PVC. One of the most common toxic additives is DEHP, a phthalate that is a suspected carcinogen and reproductive toxicant. If PVC is heated in a fire, it eleases toxic hydrogen chloride gas, forming deadly hydrochloric acid when inhaled by firefighters and building occupants. PVC cannot be effectively recycled due to the many different toxic additives used to soften or stabilize PVC, which can contaminate the recycling batch. Just one PVC bottle can contaminate a recycling load of 100,000 PET bottles.
Polyolefins such as Polyethylene (PE) and Polypropylene (PP) are simpler polymer structures that do not need plasticizers, although they do use additives such as UV and heat stabilizers, antioxidants and in some applications flame retardants. The polyolefins pose fewer risks and have the highest potential for mechanical recycling. Both PE and PP are versatile and cheap, and can be designed to replace almost all PVC applications. PE can be made either hard, or very flexible, without the use of plasticizers. PP is easy to mold and can also be used in a wide range of applications.
In comparison with PVC, PE and PP use fewer problematic additives, have reduced leaching potential in landfills, reduced potential for dioxin formation during burning (provided that brominated/chlorinated flame retardants are not used), and reduced technical problems and costs during recycling.
For the loft - the electrical cabling and the pipes for the plumbing are PE plastic and PVC has not been used.
