Toxic Chemical Safety and Vinyl’s Terrible Record in the Spotlight
News, Reflections and Resources from February 2023
Vinyl chloride disasters have killed 71, injured 637 people since 2010
The dangers of vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were widely recognized, long before the toxic train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023. The production of vinyl chloride is one of the dirtiest branches of the petrochemical industry. More than 95% of vinyl chloride is used to produce PVC plastic.
Since 2010, there have been at least 40 chemical incidents worldwide involving vinyl chloride and PVC. Material Research found reports at 29 facilities worldwide, including a dozen chemical factories in the U.S. Fires, leaks, and explosions killed at least 71 people and injured 637 people. Many more people, animals, and plants have been harmed over the long-term.
Material Research just published a chronology and map of these incidents in collaboration with Coming Clean, in support of the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters. We welcome the use and adaptation of these resources with attribution for non-commercial purposes.
Material Research’s Chronology of Vinyl Chloride incidents features an interactive Atlas.
Chemical disasters happen every other day in the U.S.
Chemical incidents are far too common, as revealed by a map published Feb. 25 by, the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters.
The new map of U.S. chemical incidents shows that the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio is one of at least 224 incidents involving hazardous chemicals – including toxic releases, fires, and explosions – that have occurred since January 1, 2022. The map will be periodically updated through the year to reflect new chemical incidents.
At least 481 chemical incidents have occurred since April 2020, when the coalition started maintaining its incident database, sourced from news, industry and government reports. This database is intended to underscore the startling regularity of chemical disasters in the U.S. and motivate the need for heightened prevention policies to better protect workers and fenceline communities.
"Fenceline community members have made it clear for decades now that they refuse to accept chemical disasters as a fact of life," said Stephanie Herron, National Organizer with the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform. "These issues aren't new to the people who live near hazardous facilities, who have been speaking up about the urgent need to transition to safer chemicals to prevent disasters in their communities. What's new is that more people are paying attention."
The Coalition’s map, developed and maintained by our team at Material Research, made its debut in a story published last weekend by The Guardian.
Click here to see the map.
Guardian journalist Carey Gillam interviewed Eboni Cochran, who leads Rubbertown Emergency Action. REACT is a Louisville community response to being surrounded by toxic chemicals: the factories and everything that carries them – train cars, barges, trucks, and pipelines.
“For Eboni Cochran, a mother and volunteer community activist, the East Palestine disaster has hardly added to her faith in the federal government,” reports Gillam. “Cochran lives with her husband and 16-year-old son roughly 400 miles south of the derailment, near a Louisville, Kentucky, industrial zone along the Ohio River that locals call ‘Rubbertown.’ The area is home to a cluster of chemical manufacturing facilities, and curious odors and concerns about toxic exposures permeate the neighborhoods near the plants.
“Cochran and her family keep what she calls ‘get-out-of-dodge’ backpacks at the ready in case of a chemical accident. They stock the packs with two changes of clothes, protective eyewear, first aid kits and other items they think they may need if forced to flee their home.”
Eboni Cochran describes a common danger for children who attend schools surrounded by toxic chemical factories and train cars. Material Research video (Aug. 2019).
Vinyl flooring sales slump as designers’ concerns grow
The building and construction industry is the primary consumer of PVC. Pipes, wall coverings, windows, doors and floors have their origins in vinyl chloride factories.
A few weeks ago, The Material Witness reported that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is cracking down on imports of PVC flooring. This action is a direct result of last year’s joint investigation by Sheffield Hallam University’s Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), Material Research L3C, and The Intercept. Customs followed the trail blazed in these reports, which tied much of the flooring sold in the U.S. to factories that participate in forced labor programs imposed by the government of China and that are among the world’s biggest polluters.
Vinyl’s toxic reputation threatens to upend a market that relies upon cozy relationships between the toxic chemical industry and non-profit promoters like the U.S. Green Building Council.
“The listing could make vinyl flooring much harder to source,” notes the journal Building Green.
In February, flooring companies reliant on PVC reported sudden declines in sales. Lumber Liquidators reported a $15.1 million loss in its flooring division in the last quarter of 2022, compared to earnings of $10.3 million in the same period last year. Forbo says “volume growth in the first half of 2022 gave way to an unexpectedly sharp fall in demand in the second half – with Flooring Systems being increasingly hard hit.” Mohawk, the world’s largest flooring company, reported in February that its Flooring North America Segment sales “slowed faster than we anticipated,” declining 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Fast Company published an article in February that reflects the reputational risk to those who continue to specify these products. It notes PVC flooring’s ties to forced labor and chemical disasters.
“Flooring is one example of a product that uses PVC, plastic made from vinyl chloride, the toxic chemical that burned in a plume of smoke over East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month when a train derailed,” reports Adele Peters. “Potential accidents are only one challenge. PVC products are dangerous to make, both for workers and communities nearby. They can potentially be dangerous to use because of additives. When they’re thrown out, that can lead to more pollution. And products like vinyl flooring keep growing, despite the fact that safer alternatives exist.”
Building projects have considerable marketplace influence. “I think, as designers and architects, we have a huge agency in changing the course,” Jonsara Ruth, design director for the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design, told Fast Company.
“If we start demanding other products and kind of boycotting PVC plastics, then the manufacturers will follow, right? We talk to manufacturers all the time, and they say, ‘We’re just making what designers and architects want.'”
This will be a hot topic at Grace Farm’s Design For Freedom Summit on March 30. The summit will explore the intersections between climate injustice, forced labor, and building materials. In the morning plenary, Jim Vallette of Material Research will join Nora Rizzo of Grace Farms, Paul J. Bradley of Lendlease Americas, and Shawn MacDonald of Verité in a discussion about supply chain transparency. In an afternoon roundtable session, Vallette and Anna Dyson of Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture will consider the climate impact of building materials.
The Summit is an in-person event at Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut. Register here: https://gracefarms.org/events/design-for-freedom-summit-2023/ .
More February 2023 Toxic Chemical News….
Chemical Disasters Around The World
As U.S.-centered media outlets focused on the toxic train wreck and fire in East Palestine, Ohio, other chemical disasters and near-disasters raged around the world. Within the U.S., four people died and seven were injured in February, according to the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters running list of incidents. Outside the U.S., at least four workers died and 28 were injured by the following chemical incidents:
Fire, evacuations, Qenos ethylene cracker, Sydney, Australia
February 28, 2023
A fire and the near-collapse of an ethylene cracker cooling tower led officials to evacuate a chemical industry complex south of Sydney. Qenos is a joint venture between ChemChina and The Blackstone Group. It occupies a 37 hectare (91 acre) industrial park. Qenos has the capacity to produce 450,000 tonnes ethylene and 410,000 tons of polyethylene.
2 Dead, 2 Injured in Explosion, Ven Petrochem chemical plant, Valsad district, Gujarat, India
February 27, 2023
Two people died and at least two others were injured in a blast and fire at a pharmaceutical chemical manufacturing plant in the Sarigam GIDC Chemical Zone of Valsad district, Gujarat, India. Firefighters did not use water to quench the fire because they were “unaware” of the chemicals in the blaze. Ven Petrochem & Pharma (India) Pvt.Ltd produces bromhexine hydrochloride, timolol maleate, and ambroxol hydrochloride for the global pharmaceuticals market.
Fire, two injured “Chemical Factory” Talat Park, Lahore, Pakistan
February 27, 2023
Two people were hospitalized with burns at a “chemical factory” that news reports do not name.
Explosion, four workers injured, Garment Factory, Maheshtala, West Bengal, India
February 26, 2023
An explosion occurred while workers in a jeans manufacturing plant were mixing chemicals. Four workers were injured.
Fire, Royal Foam Industries, Kottayam, Kerala, India
February 26, 2023
A mattress foam plant in India caught fire. Such foam commonly contains isocyanates and toxic flame retardants that do little to prevent fires. “The extent of the accident increased when the fire spread to foam, sponge, rope and other products,” reported On Monarama. The factory was vacant at the time of the blaze because of a holiday.
Explosion, 10 injured Excel Industries/Sumitomo Chemical, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India
February 24, 2023
Another explosion in Gujarat injured at least ten people. Excel Industries, a subsidiary of Sumitomo, produces artificial turf and grass in the Bhavnagar district. At least 10 people were injured in the explosion and fire.
February 24, 2023
Five workers were injured in a fire in a Pemex refinery and one worker died and at least three more were injured in another fire in the drilling equipment of a storage plant. A third chemical incident involving Pemex occurred the same day: the corporate emergency unit extinguished a fire at Pemex’s 312,500 barrel-a-day refinery in Deer Park, Texas. No injuries were reported in the Deer Park incident.
Methyl bromide leak, evacuation, warehouse Auckland, New Zealand
February 21, 2023
A chemical warehouse was evacuated after methyl bromide gas was discovered in the air.
Fire, Krezol, Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia
February 17, 2023
A chemical reagent plant was evacuated when it caught fire. The plant was evacuated. The owner, Krezol, says it’s “the biggest Russian manufacturer and supplier of chemical reagents and laboratory equipment. The company also produces drilling well-killing reagents (fluids) and chemical reagents that enhance oil recovery.”
One fatality, two injured, Lee Pharma, Hyderabad, India
February 8, 2023
Three workers “accidentally fell into a chemical container” at a bulk pharmaceuticals manufacturer at Gaddapotharam industrial area in Hyderabad. The two surviving employees were reported to be in critical condition.
Earthquake strikes Turkey, impacts nearby plastics factories
February 4, 2023
A powerful set of earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, and killed tens of thousands of people. Plastics factories were near the epicenters, according to CCFGroup. Turkey is a center for production of PET plastic chips used in textiles. Plants owned by Indorama, Koksan, and Sasa were impacted. “It is not yet clear whether the factories of PET companies are operating at the moment,” reported Polyester Times on Feb. 13.
Toxic Chemical Industry Expansion
The toxic chemical industry continues its global expansion. In February, these global projects were in the news:
Covestro expands polyurethane production in China. “Covestro has decided to build its largest-ever thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) site at Zhuhai, China,” reports CHEManager.
Global plastics producer Ineos is buying oil and gas fields in Texas. “INEOS Energy is entering US oil and gas production for the first time with the acquisition of a portion of Chesapeake Energy’s oil and gas assets in the Eagle Ford shale, south Texas for US$1.4 billion,” reports Oilfield Technology. Ineos already imports ethane from Appalachia for use in its European crackers using a dedicated line of Very Large Ethane Carriers, as we reported for Beyond Plastics’ 2021 report, The New Coal: Plastics & Climate Change.
Qatar Vinyl Co. is building its first PVC plant. “Qatar Vinyl Co’s (QVC) new 350,000 tonne/year polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in Mesaieed (Qatar) is slated for completion in mid-2025,” reports ICIS.
Global plastics producer Indorama started commercial operation of its new spandex plant in Himachal Pradesh, India, according to Indian Textile Magazine.
February 2023 Greenwash Awards
Two companies share this month’s inaugural Greenwasher of the Month award:
Interface’s Carpet House. (Reader nomination) A global producer of plastic flooring, Interface, sponsored a low-income house in Alabama made out of its old carpet tiles. The company left its PVC flooring discards in a warehouse for seven years, apparently to “offgas” chemicals. Unfortunately, as Interface well knows, old carpet tile contains toxic substances including phthalate plasticizers, coal power plant fly ash filler, and PFAS top coats. These substances are not VOCs. They are unlikely to go anywhere in the still environment of a warehouse. See Rural Studio’s page, http://ruralstudio.org/project/lucy-carpet-house/
Dow Chemical sponsored a shoe recycling program in Singapore that reporters found off track. “In media releases and a promotional video posted online, that effort promised to harvest the rubberized soles and midsoles of donated shoes, then grind down the material for use in building new playgrounds and running tracks in Singapore,” reported Reuters. Reuters placed tracking devices in the shoes and found “none of these shoes made it to a Singapore recycling facility.”
New Resources
These resources caught our eyes in February 2023.
Environmental Data Governance Initiative’s report, “EPA Enforcement Still Struggling Under Biden.” EDGI finds, “Funding for the agency’s main enforcement and compliance programs was the lowest in the last eleven years, 29% below the peak in FY 2011, 14% lower than FY 2016, and even 2% lower than in FY 2019.”
Three reports on the use of forced labor and ties to global supply chains:
C4ADS’ study, “Shifting Gears: The Rise of Industrial Transfer into the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”
Jewish World Watch’s Uyghur Forced Labor Database.
Gibson Dunn’s summary of global sanctions and trade controls in effect at the end of 2022.
Coming Soon…
The Material Research team has been tracking toxic chemicals and waste for a rather long time. In the 1980s, we followed the years-long voyage of the Khian Sea. The bulk carrier was loaded with incinerator ash from Philadelphia that no one wanted. This story will be told like never before in Simone Müller’s forthcoming book, The Toxic Ship. University of Washington Press will publish it in August. We can hardly wait!
More info: https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295751832/the-toxic-ship/
Material Witness Credits
Material Witness is an educational service of Material Research L3C, a charitable low-profit mission-driven company based in Maine, U.S.A.
MW Lead Researcher: Connie Murtagh
MW Editor: Jim Vallette
Additional research by Verónica Odriozola, Kam Rasheed, Selena Sillari, and Jill Weber.