What is "Polyvinyl Chloride" (PVC) and why is it dangerous?

What is "Polyvinyl Chloride" (PVC) and why is it dangerous?

Terry Tamminen (Author & Environmental Policy Advisor) gives expert video advice on: Is there a correlation between smog and human disease? and more...

PVC is polyvinal chloride and it'sa plastic material that is used to make pipes amongst other things. It has many benefits because it is easy to work with, it's durable, it's fairly inexpensive so it allows plumbing even in low income communities and third world countries. Recently though we've learned that some of the components in PVC will leach, so for example if it's used for plumbing for drinking water that some of the constituents in the PVC will leach into the water and get into our bodies and could be very toxic.