Killer Curtains: Study Finds Over 100 Toxic Chemicals In Vinyl Shower Curtains

Remember that annoying smell that chokes your senses when you step into the shower with new curtains. Well, turns out that the smell given off by the vinyl shower curtains isn’t just annoying, it might just be as hazardous to your health too, according to a study conducted by Canadian and US environmental groups.

Poly vinyl chloride or PVC shower curtains are sold across the United States in well known retail stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, K-mart, Macy’s and Bed Bath & Beyond. The study’s authors state that these contain more than 100 different toxic chemicals, which being volatile can be easily inhaled. These volatile organic compounds can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination and nausea. They have also been known to damage the liver, kidneys and central nervous system.

Some VOC’s can lead to cancerdefine in humans. The two main cancer causing VOC’s detected in these shower curtains are toluene and ethylbenzene. These chemicals can not only cause cancer but also reproductive toxicity. In the state of California it is illegal for a company to expose individuals to these chemicals without warning. Such is the danger of these toxins now found in everyone’s bathrooms.

The study was conducted on five PVC shower curtains purchased from retail outlets in the United States and Canada. Testing showed different volatile organic compounds being released into the air from a vinyl shower curtain over 28 days. The total VOCs measured was 16 times greater than the recommended amount for indoor air quality.

All of the brands tested contained di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and diisononyl phthalate. These chemicals have been banned in children's toys in California. Other chemicals found in the curtains (such as ethylbenzene, methyl isobutyl ketonedefine and cyclohexanone) are considered a human health concern under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Many people change their shower curtains quite regularly to ward off mold and mildew, but now the fear of exposing yourself to these toxins every time one takes a shower is causing serious concerns. The plastics industry, however, says the vinyl curtains are harmless and that the study is an example of environmental fear-mongering that should not be taken seriously.

"Vinyl shower curtains have been on the market for decades with no reported incidents of harm," said Marion Axmith, director of the Vinyl Council of Canada, a wing of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association. "Just because a chemical has been detected doesn't mean it's harmful."

In their justification, the Vinyl Council of Canada explains that the smell released from the vinyl curtain is because of polymer, polyvinyl chloride, an odorless powder, to which ingredients are added that will give the desired results. These products that have an initial odor usually fade away. They suggest people with sensitivities to new product smells should air their shower curtains out for a few days to solve this problem.

The environmental groups on the other hand, recommend that rather than airing vinyl shower curtains, consumers avoid them all together. Jennifer Foulds of Environmental Defence states how cotton curtains work well to keep water off the bathroom floor and can be washed in the washing machine.

Where is the government regulation you ask? Currently there is no federal regulation on the air quality within the home. Although the Center for Health, Environment & Justice sent a letter to 19 major retailers informing them of the toxic findings and encouraging them to stop selling PVC products.

CHEJ and other advocates have several recommendations for consumers, corporations and the government. They recommend that the government should adopt policies to ban PVC shower curtains, require warning labels on products, educate the public, and divert PVC products from incinerators or burn facilities.

It is hoped manufacturers will "step up to the plate" and stop selling vinyl shower curtains, rather than wait for the government to act, just as many retailers have stopped selling polycarbonate baby bottles containing bisphenol A, a hormone disruptor associated with adverse health effects. Till then we all have a lurking menace of shower curtain smell in our bathrooms, quietly off-gassing a cruel industrial bouquet of deadly vapors.