The Environment

Staab Decor is supportive of the use of sustainable and environmentally safe building materials, in all aspects of interior design.

The following is an extract from a study carried out by the CSIRO, for the Plastics and Chemicals Industry Association on the environmental aspects of the use of PVC in building materials.

"The scope of the study brief was to report on whether or not the balance of reputable scientific evidence currently available supports the contention that the use of PVC in its major building product applications causes significantly more overall harm to the environment than the available commercially viable alternatives.

This study reports on the environmental effects of the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in its major building product applications, and compares these effects with those of the commercially viable alternatives.

The study finds that, on the balance of reputable scientific evidence, there is nothing to support the contention that the use of PVC in its major building product applications causes significantly more overall harm to the environment than the commercially available alternatives.

The major use of PVC in building applications are as waste water pipes, as cable insulation and as floor covering.

The possible environmental hazards arising from the use of PVC in the above applications result mainly from the presence of additives which may find their way out into the surroundings, from the emmisions which may result from accidental fires, and the disposal of waste PVC building products.

The quantitatively important additives to PVC are heat stabilsers, plasticisers and flame retardants. Lead compounds are the most commonly used heat stabilisers - in view of the well known toxicity of lead, its use in building products is potentially of concern. However, because the stabiliser is held within the PVC matrix, only limited and temporary loses from the surface will occur. Extraction of lead from waste water pipes by running water is the most likely contribution in this area. It has been shown that the level of lead extracted from pipes by water rapidly declines to a low value after a short period of use. It is concluded that the possibility of lead losses to the environment is limited, and will make a relatively small contribution to the environment compared to other sources.

While there are alternatives to PVC in pipes and fittings, and in floor coverings, there are essentially no commercially viable and cost-effective substitutes for PVC cable installation in building applications. The only comparative life cycle analyses carried out so far, on pipe materials, fail to show any greater environmental harm due to PVC.

The effects on health of phthalates, by far the most commonly used plasticisers for PVC, has been the subject of some controversy. The scientific evidence concerning the effects of phthalates on the environment is inconclusive.

The use of flame retardants such as antimony trioxide in plasticised PVC is sometimes necessary because of the flammability of the plasticiser. While these are inherently toxic, the same limitations to spread in the environment apply as with lead stabilisers.

Available information concerning the performance of PVC in accidental building fires is reviewed in this study. Evidence for the formation of toxic emissions in excess of those produced by thiose of other plastics is so contradictory that no firm conclusion can be reached. Likewise the contribution of the production, use, and disposal of PVC products to global dioxin production is the subject of continuing debate. It can, however, be concluded that the other industrial processes such as municipal solid waste incineration are far more significant sources of dioxins.

Waste PVC building products can be disposed of by recycling, landfil or incineration. Recyclingt is by far the preferable alternative, given that PVC products are easily identified and the plastic is easily recycled. In the event that a proportion of waste PVC is taken to landfil or incinerated, the environmental; effects are unlikely to be significant. In the case of landfill, degradation is extremely slow and the dangerous compounds are immobilised, while incineration under controlled conditions in municipal solid waste will not lead to significant increases in dangerous pollutants.

From the evidence cited in this study, it can be concluded that the adverse environmental effects of using PVC in building products are very small, and no greater than those for other building materials. However there are several aspects which require further study because the available evidence if either inconclusive or contradictory. These environmental questions include the use of phthalates as plasticisers in flexible PVC, and their health effects in the environment; the ultimate fate of heavy materials used as stabilisers; and the toxicity of emmisions from accidental fires."