Host: How do we know PVC is dangerous?

Michael Schade: Many of the chemicals that are released by the vinyl life cycle have been studied extensively by scientists for decades. These include government scientists, these include scientists that are hired by academic institutions, as well as scientists that are commissioned by the chemical industry. There has been literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of studies that have been conducted over the years evaluating the hazards of these chemicals. The scientific consensus is that many of these chemicals that are released by the vinyl life cycle are extremely toxic for not only our health, but also our environment. For instance, vinyl chloride, one of the main chemicals, that's used to make PVC, there is no way to make PVC without using vinyl chloride, is one of the few chemicals that the Federal Government, the EPA recognizes as a known human carcinogen.

Dioxins are considered actually some of the most toxic chemicals known to mankind. We first discover that -- one of the first times that we discovered Dioxins are harmful were back in the Vietnam War when Dioxins were added to Agent Orange, and we know now, decades later that Agent Orange was poisonous not only for Vietnam, but also for communities in Vietnam that were doused with Agent Orange. So there has literally been hundreds and hundreds of studies evaluating the hazards of these chemicals. Most of these studies are based on laboratory studies evaluating how these chemicals affect animals. This is pretty common, this is how we determine whether or not the chemical is safe or hazardous for human consumption.