Are the plasticizers used to make floors containing vinyl a health issue?

Independent scientists, international governmental bodies and phthalate producers have conducted extensive studies on the safety of phthalates – the plasticizers used to make vinyl flexible. In more than 40 years of study and use, phthalates have never been shown to cause harm to humans from their normal, intended use.

Phthalates are tightly bound in the structure of the vinyl and have very low volatility, which means that they do not tend to evaporate. Thus, they would be an unlikely contributor to "sick building syndrome."

Asthma is a growing concern today, and extensive research is being conducted on its possible causes. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences has reviewed the research on possible sources (including phthalates), and phthalate plasticizers are not on IOM’s list of more than a dozen chemical and biological agents to which exposure was found to be associated with asthma.5

EPA does not list phthalates as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic materials.

Phthalate-plasticized vinyl is the material of choice for many medical products – such as blood bags and tubing – regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has studied the use of phthalates in vinyl toys and found no demonstrated health risk.6 On this basis, the Commission in February 2003 denied a petition to ban vinyl children’s products.7 And, the safety of medical devices and toys made of flexible vinyl was further affirmed by a blue-ribbon panel headed by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.8 A list of published or presented research is available at www.phthalates.org/resources/index.html

5 "Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures," Institute of Medicine Committee on the Assessment of Asthma and Indoor Air, National Academy of Sciences, 2000.

6 Staff Recommendation in Response to Petition HP 99-1 Requesting Ban of Use of PVC in Products Intended for Children Five Years of Age and Under, CPSC Directorate for Health Sciences, August 2002.

7 Letter from T. Stevenson, Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, to J. Wise, National Environmental Trust, re: Petition Requesting Ban of Use of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) in Products Intended for Children Five Years of Age and Under, Feb. 26, 2003.

8 C. Everett Koop, M.D., Sc.D., Chair; Daland R. Juberg, Ph.D.; Elissa P. Benedek, M.D.; Ronald W. Brecher, Ph.D., C.Chem., D.A.B.T.; Robert L. Brent, M.D., Ph.D.; Philip Cole, M.D., Dr.P.H.; Morton Corn, Ph.D.; Vincent T. Covello, Ph.D.; Theron W. Downes, Ph.D.; Shayne C. Gad, Ph.D., D.A.B.T.; Lois Swirsky Gold, Ph.D.; Peter Guengerich, Ph.D.; John Higginson, M.D., F.R.C.P.; W. Hans Konemann, Ph.D.; James C. Lamb IV, Ph.D., D.A.B.T.; Paul J. Lioy, Ph.D.; George Lundberg, M.D.; Kimberly M. Thompson, Sc.D., "A Scientific Evaluation of Health Effects of Two Plasticizers Used in Medical Devices and Toys," American Council on Science and Health, New York, N.Y., June 22, 1999.