Vinyl chloride is harmful to humans and other animals when we breathe contaminated air or drink contaminated water. The highest levels of this toxic chemical are often found in the air and water near factories where it is produced, putting workers at these facilities and surrounding communities at especially high risk for exposure. When water becomes contaminated, it can enter household air when showering, doing laundry, or cooking. People can also be exposed to this chemical through industrial and transportation incidents, such as the February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

Vinyl chloride is toxic, extremely flammable, and potentially explosive. Health impacts from short-term exposure include nose and throat irritation, coughing, shortness of breath, eye irritation, headaches, and dizziness. Those who suffer chronic exposure can develop liver disease and cancers, including liver cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, brain cancer, and lung cancer. Exposure to extremely high doses may even be fatal.

When vinyl chloride is burned, even more hazardous chemicals are released, including dioxins. Dioxins are among the most toxic chemicals on the planet—especially for children. They can cause cancer, immune system impairment, and reproductive and developmental problems.

Petrochemical pollution is a matter of environmental justice. Discriminatory housing policies like redlining mean that vinyl chloride is often manufactured in areas already overburdened by pollution, including low-income communities of color in Louisiana, Texas, and Kentucky. It’s unfair and unjust that these communities carry the health risks of producing PVC plastic.

The February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was a chilling example of the threat petrochemicals pose to people in the U.S. Five train cars carrying vinyl chloride burned there, but this toxic chemical has been impacting human health far and wide for decades.

Since the train derailment, Moms Clean Air Force has collected tens of thousands of petition signatures from members calling on EPA to ban this harmful chemical once and for all. In July 2023, we joined our partners in Washington, DC, to deliver more than 27,000 of these signatures. We went back with more signatures in early December. Just days later, EPA announced its decision to include vinyl chloride as one of five chemicals it chose for in-depth evaluation under TSCA. Moms spoke out in testimony and in written comments to EPA during two comment periods in 2024, urging the agency to ban this harmful chemical.