Law Firm of Motley Rice LLC - Vinyl Chloride Litigation

Vinyl chloride (C.A.S. 75-01-4) is a colorless, flammable gas with a faintly sweet odor. Its odor threshhold (the level at which most people can smell the gas and be warned of its presence) probably exceeds 4,000 ppm. This figure is in excess of every legal standard that has ever been applied to vinyl chloride monomer exposure, and is 4,000 times higher than the current OSHA PEL of 1 ppm. If a person smells vinyl chloride monomer, that person has been grossly overexposed to the substance.

Vinyl chloride monomer is the parent compound of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a plastic resin used in innumerable consumer and industrial products, including containers, beverage containers, food storage containers, wrapping film, battery cell separators, refrigerant gas, electrical insulation, water distribution systems such as drain pipes and hose, flooring, windows, phonograph records, video discs, irrigation systems, credit cards, latex paints, and vinyl siding for homes. Vinyl chloride monomer is also used as a copolymer in various resins used in plastic food wrap. Though most vinyl chloride monomer is used industrially to make polyvinyl chloride products, historically vinyl chloride monomer was used as a component of aerosol propellants for women's hair spray, for aerosolized pesticides, and for some medical applications. Although PVC is certainly a distinct product from vinyl chloride monomer, PVC is manufactured using vinyl chloride monomer and PVC resins, and PVC resins all contain some degree of vinyl chloride monomer. Indeed, as a general rule, workers in PVC plants sustain even higher exposure to vinyl chloride monomer than workers engaged in the direct manufacturer of vinyl chloride monomer itself. Vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers are used extensively to produce vinyl asbestos floor tiles.

Technical grade vinyl chloride is commercially supplied as a 99.9% pure liquid under pressure, but may also be found in EDC plants, in methyl chloroform plants, and, most importantly, in PVC processing and fabricating plants. Residual vinyl chloride monomer may be found in PVC and PVC resins that are not recognized as containing dangerous levels of vinyl chloride monomer.

Synonyms for vinyl chloride are chloroethene, chloroethylene, chlorethylene, ethylene monochloride, monochloroethene, monochloroethylene, VC, and vinyl chloride monomer (vinyl chloride monomer).