Environmental Groups Release Report Aimed at Banning Vinyl Chloride

Toxic chemical released last year after East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck has been cited in nearly 1,000 incidents since 2010, they say.

An East Palestine, Ohio, neighborhood near the controlled detonation of chemicals in the derailed Norfolk Southern train, on Feb. 6, 2023. Gene J. Puskar/AP

Accidents involving the toxic chemical vinyl chloride, which was spilled from a train wreck in the town of East Palestine, Ohio last year, have been occurring frequently over the past 14 years, according to a new report.

The report was published by Earthjustice and the nonprofit Beyond Plastics on March 26 as part of efforts to push the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider banning the chemical.

Accidents involving vinyl chloride have averaged once every 5.3 days since 2010, the report says. They are a “feature rather than an anomaly for the vinyl chloride industry,” the groups say.

In total since 2010, at least 966 chemical incident reports have been filed involving vinyl chloride, according to the report.

Of those, 930 occurred at factories that produce vinyl chloride or PVC plastics. The others occurred on railroads, ports, roads, waste management facilities, and specialty chemical manufacturing plants, the report said.

They cited at least 29 incidents since 1968 in which one or more rail cars carrying the chemical have derailed, prompting large-scale evacuations for those living nearby.

“In the past 60 years, violent vinyl chloride releases in the U.S. have killed at least 14 people and injured at least 120 people at vinyl chloride or PVC manufacturing plants,” the report stated.

“Since 2000, there have been at least nine major air releases of vinyl chloride at these facilities. They released more than 200,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, combined.”

Manufacturers: ‘Makes Modern Life Possible’

Industry advocates say accidents involving the widely used chemical are rare.

A February blog post published by the Vinyl Institute—an industry trade group representing manufacturers of vinyl and vinyl chloride—stated that the chemical “makes modern life possible” and claimed that train accidents involving it are “exceedingly rare” because so little of it is shipped by rail.

“As a building block for hundreds of products, the chemical enables the safe production and use of technologies that can be seen all around us,” the blog post said.

“From life-saving blood bags, sustainable water pipes, car interiors, and televisions to durable flooring, furniture, wall coverings, and electrical wiring—even the cables that connect us to the internet—are all possible thanks to VC. The list goes on and on and on.”

The group accused “a handful of agenda-fueled activist groups” of having ignored these “fundamental facts” in their efforts to ban the chemical.

Vinyl chloride is a highly flammable, man-made chemical widely used in plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and vinyl products, according to the EPA.

The agency has classified vinyl chloride as a Group A human carcinogen, noting that short-term human exposure to high levels of the chemical can impact the nervous system and cause dizziness, drowsiness, and headaches.

Long-term exposure to vinyl chloride through inhalation and oral exposure has been shown to increase the risk of a rare form of liver cancer, according to the EPA.

East Palestine Derailment

The potential risks associated with the transport of vinyl chloride became a key issue last year when a train carrying hazardous materials including the chemical as well as ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, and butyl acrylate, derailed in East Palestine.

A controlled release of the hazardous chemicals on board was performed a few days later, sending phosgene and hydrogen chloride into the air.

Many residents reported feeling unwell and some domestic animals were found dead after the controlled release.

Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and former EPA regional administrator, said the agency has a “solemn responsibility to protect all residents and workers from exposure” to vinyl chloride.

Ms. Enck urged the Biden administration not to “bow to the vinyl industry’s efforts to minimize vinyl chloride’s harms.”

“The vinyl industry has one priority in mind, and it’s not the health and safety of the public; it’s companies’ financial bottom line,” she said.

“Vinyl chloride was designated a human carcinogen 50 years ago, and even though substitute materials exist, it’s still being used in products we touch every day. We’ve waited long enough for federal action protecting our families, homes, and communities from vinyl chloride; it’s time for the EPA administrator Michael Regan to start the process of banning this highly toxic chemical.”

The EPA is taking public comments on vinyl chloride as part of its review of the chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which could potentially lead to a ban.

The agency is widely expected to make a final decision on the designation of the chemical this December.