Polyvinyl chloride or PVC, is often dubbed the most toxic plastic on the planet because of all the harmful vinyl chemicals used to manufacture it and the ones released during its use and disposal.

A vinyl chemical called diisononyl phthalate (DiNP), the chemical used to keep PVC flexible and pliable (think shower curtains and garden hoses), has just been dubbed a carcinogen by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

This adds to others in the list:

· BPA, the hormone disruptor found in some plastics labeled #7 and in the lining of most canned foods, and

· Phthalate, DEHP, which is also used in PVC, and is a carcinogen.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Say no to vinyl. The easiest way to identify this toxic plastic is to avoid any plastic products with the #3 in the triangle of arrows on the bottom. If you’re not sure, give it a smell test: PVC products emit a plastic odor that will remind you of a new shower curtain.

Source: Rodale News