Wrong question, dude.
A Plastics Today commentary completely misunderstands the nature of enviro attacks on PVC.
After spotlighting the junk science attack on PVC, Doug Smock writes,
… Engineers have always done significant testing of a material’s fitness for use. There has not been a similar due diligence on health issues.
As a result, we find out some time later that heavy metals and some chemicals used to make plastics have adverse health effects. As we’ve seen with bisphenol-A (BPA), it’s a messy, drawn-out affair with a lot of studies and a lot of politics.
The public is left in the lurch.
I would like to see the chemical/plastics industry do more proactive, upfront health testing on their materials rather than protecting market share after the fact.
I was at a medical conference two years ago where an executive of a major resin company proudly showed me his replacement for PVC and polycarbonate in healthcare applications. “What testing have you done on any potential harmful side effects from this compound?” I asked.
He looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe it’s time for a change.
What Smock doesn’t get is that the attacks on PVC and the plastics industry have nothing to do with safety or the environment — they are just the shields behind which the greens attack this particular area of the free economy (or what’s left of it).
There’s no amount of science that can satisfy the greens and their political and media allies as to the safety of PVC and plastics.
The battle with the greens is an inherently political one — a point on which Smock and most of the plastics industry is clueless.
“Plastic Today,” now that’s an impartial account. The Wikipedia article on PVC is surprisingly neutral. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PVC
Smock is of the delusion that he can reason his way out of this. This is because he is an educated man of science with experience in the plastics industry. He doesn’t understand that these very items which qualify him to make these statements cause those opposed to his opinion to discount his thoughts completely.