Tell EPA to Ban Toxic Vinyl Chloride

On the night of February 3, 2023, East Palestine, Ohio experienced a catastrophic train derailment. Roughly 50 railcars on a Norfolk Southern train derailed less than a mile from the Pennsylvania border. At least twenty of the train cars carried hazardous chemicals. Five were carrying vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen. Vinyl chloride is used almost exclusively to make polyvinyl chloride plastic (commonly called PVC) which is hazardous to produce and dispose of. 

Vinyl chloride is primarily manufactured in low-income communities and communities of color in Louisiana, Texas, and Kentucky, where it threatens the health of local residents. The PVC plastic made from vinyl chloride is used to make everything from rubber duckies and other children's toys to pipes, floor coverings, shower curtains, raincoats, and vinyl siding. These pollutants can cause cancer and disrupt the hormonal, reproductive, developmental, and immune systems.

Fortunately, there are safer alternatives to PVC, so it's time for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban toxic vinyl chloride. Please join us in urging the EPA to take the critical first step in banning this hazardous chemical before any more harm is done to communities like East Palestine, Ohio. 

Please click to send a message to the EPA. It’s time to ban toxic vinyl chloride.