Pass Up the Poison Plastic: The PVC-Free Guide for Your Family and Home

Saturday, November 29, 2008
Posted by Healthy Child

Earlier this week our friends at the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice released their newest resource, Pass Up the Poison Plastic - The PVC-Free Guide for Your Family & Home, a comprehensive guide to making smart consumer choices with plastics. 

With so much attention focused on the dangers of toxic chemicals in consumer products over the past year (from shower curtains to toxic toys), this new guide gives consumers the necessary tools to find safer products for their families and home. The Pass Up the Poison Plastic guide lists the most common consumer products made out of PVC and safer PVC-free products.

PVC, also known as vinyl, is the worst plastic for our health and environment, releasing dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer, from their manufacture to their disposal. Some chemicals, such as phthalates, lead and cadmium, can leach out of the products - posing avoidable hazards to consumers. In fact, approximately 90% of all phthalates are used in PVC products.

Pass Up the Poison Plastic features a listing of PVC-free products in 80 product categories including:

• Baby care products
• Building materials
• Children's toys
• Electronics
• School and office supplies, and more!

It also includes the top 10 reasons for purchasing PVC-free products, quick tips for avoiding PVC, a listing of common household products that may contain PVC, information on simple actions consumers can take for safer products and a healthier environment, and more.

“We need to take personal responsibility for the health and environmental impacts of the products we purchase,” said Mike Schade, co-author of the guide and PVC Campaign Coordinator for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. “We’ve created this new guide to empower consumers to find safer solutions to PVC. We can help build consumer consciousness and demand for safer, healthier products by purchasing PVC-free products.”

Download this important guide, and read on for more information from CHEJ.