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Article: Vinyl Chloride: Still a Cause for Concern.
- Article from:
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Article date:
- July 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Vinyl chloride (VC) is both a known carcinogen and a regulated chemical, and its production capacity has almost doubled over the last 20 years, currently 27 million tons/year worldwide. According to recent reports it is still a cause for concern. VC has been found as a degradation product of chloroethylene solvents (perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene) and in landfill gas and groundwater at concentrations up to 200 mg/[m.sup.3] and 10 mg/L, respectively. Worldwide occupational exposure to VC still seems to be high in some countries (e.g., averages of approximately 1,300 mg/[m.sup.3] until 1987 in one factory), and exposure may also be high in others where VC is not ...