Vinyl chloride is a colorless, flammable gas with a slightly sweet smell. It is manufactured and used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is found in certain plastic products including pipes, wire and cable coatings, and upholstery.

How You Are Exposed

It is possible to breathe in vinyl chloride if it has evaporated or has been released into the air from plastics industries, hazardous waste sites, and landfills. It can also dissolve somewhat into water and so it is possible to ingest the chemical in water from contaminated wells. 

How Can Vinyl Chloride Affect Your Health?

Breathing high concentrations of vinyl chloride can cause you to feel dizzy or sleepy. Exceptionally high levels can even cause death. Workers that make or use vinyl chloride may be exposed to the chemical over a long period of time and it has been found that they can sometimes have changes in the structure of their livers, nerve damage, and immune reactions. It has also been found that people that work with vinyl chloride sometimes develop problems with the blood flow in their hands causing the tips of their fingers to turn white and hurt when they are in cold conditions. The bones on their fingertips sometimes break down as well.

Vinyl chloride has been designated by the DHHS as a known human carcinogen; exposure leads to liver cancer.

Skin contact with liquid vinyl chloride will result in numbness, redness, and blisters.