2/21/2019 Vinyl Flooring and the Environment

Vinyl Flooring

The Environmental Impact of Vinyl Flooring

By Joseph Lewitin Updated 09/26/18

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HGTV/Scripps Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved

While vinyl flooring continues to grow in popularity, there are a number of serious
environmental concerns about this resilient surface material. From manufacture,
through installation and use, and even after it’s life cycle is over, vinyl has the
potential to cause harm to both the broad and your own personal environment, in a
number of ways.

Vinyl Flooring Manufacture

Definition: Poly Vinyl Chloride or PVC is the technical name for the vinyl found in
flooring materials.

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Fact: There are 14 billion pounds of vinyl flooring which are manufactured in the
United States each year.

Dioxins and Vinyl Flooring

Dioxins are carcinogenic bioaccumulative toxins, that are able to persist in the
environment for a prolonged period of time. These harmful chemicals are created
during the manufacture of the Chloride in PVC. These substances pose a health risk to
anyone who is exposed to them.

In some cases, these toxins can persist long enough to travel several hundred miles
causing harm across a broad swathe of territory. They can also infect creatures at
lower levels of the food chain, which will then be consumed by higher level animals.

Other toxins produced during the manufacture of the chlorine in PVC include ethylene
dichloride and vinyl chloride. All of these substances can cause serious harm to the
environment and the people living in the area surrounding these manufacturing plants.

Phthalates: Some vinyl is hard, but most flooring vinyl is relatively soft and yielding.
This characteristic is achieved by the addition of phthalates to the material mix when
the PVC is being manufactured. These are toxic substances, and they have been linked
to reproductive and respiratory health problems in people who have prolonged
exposure to them.

Vinyl Manufacturers' Rebu al

While there is a lot of information supporting the fact that the production of vinyl
flooring is harmful to the environment, the manufacturers of these products also
make several claims which serve to put these factors into perspective.

Dioxin, the most harmful toxin created during the manufacturing process, is also
produced any time any organic material is incinerated. The largest producer of dioxins
in the world is forest fires and volcanic eruptions. These natural occurrences dwarf

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the level of Dioxin produced by flooring producers, which amounts to a handful of

grams each year.

According to several studies, the level of Dioxins in the environment have actually
declined over the last 40 years, despite a dramatic increase in the level of vinyl
flooring production.

Worker Safety
In the 1970’s, doctors began to notice that certain workers employed in the
manufacture of Vinyl Chloride monomers, an important sub-element in the
manufacture of PVC, were suffering from unusually high levels of a specific type of
cancer. Because of this research regulations were passed to improve the safety of
workers involved in these processes.

Today PVC is manufactured in what is known as a closed loop system. That means
that worker exposure to the substances used in the production of PVC is at a
minimum at every point along the production line. These changes in the industry have
resulted in no reported cases of cancer caused by exposure to those monomers since
their enactment.

Chlorine Storage
The chlorine in PVC not only poses an environmental threat during its manufacture,
but it is also a bio-hazard that can be exploited by terrorists. Because it is highly
volatile, and toxic, warehouses storing these substances have been identified by the
United States air force as a potential target for terrorist attacks. Such an attack could
spread this poison material for miles across the environment.

Materials and Energy Use In Vinyl Production

The main ingredient used in the manufacture of vinyl is petroleum, a nonrenewable
resource. However, the amount of petroleum used in the production of vinyl is less
than used in most plastics.

Environmental Impact A er Installation

VOC’s: Because of the materials used in its manufacture, vinyl will sometimes emit
various levels of Volatile Organic Chemicals, or VOC’s into the air for a period after

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initial installation. These toxic substances are harmful to the air quality of the
immediate environment and can cause respiratory problems over time.

The level of VOC’s released will be determined by the quality of the material and the
amount of time that has passed since installation. You can offset these effects for the
most part by making sure that you purchase from a qualified material source, and
then make sure that space is well ventilated for several days or even weeks after the
installation.

Adhesives: There have been several problems with the adhesives used to install vinyl
tile. This includes the presence of asbestos, as well as chemicals which can lead to
the emission of VOC’s after installation. Thankfully many of these problems have been
solved with modern adhesive mixes, however, you should read all labels and
installation instructions carefully to ensure that you don’t expose yourself to health
risks.

Durability: If properly installed and cared for, an installation of vinyl flooring can last
for 10-20 years, far longer than most carpet and other soft surface solutions. This
saves on the waste and environmental impact of removing, disposing of, and replacing
your floors for decades at a time.

At the same time, vinyl floors cannot be refinished. That means that once the material
has been damaged, it needs to be removed and replaced. With tile floors, this is a
relatively easy process, and single tiles can be removed without much effort or mess.
However, with a sheet, the only way to repair the floor will be to remove a section of
it. Further, once the entire surface of the floor has worn down the material will be
useless, and will have to be completely replaced.

Fire Hazards: If a fire breaks out and the vinyl in your floor catches flame, it will begin
to emit noxious fumes which will fill the air with harmful toxins including dioxins. This
is true whether a large scale fire breaks out, or just a small portion of the floor is
burnt by accidentally dropping something.

The End of Vinyl’s Life Cycle

Waste: The durability of vinyl is a liability when it comes to disposing of this material.
It is not biodegradable, and when it is sent to a waste facility it generally just sits
there, taking up space for years. In some cases vinyl materials are able to be used as
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liners for garbage dumps, allowing them to contain waste materials that might
otherwise spill out beyond their defined perimeters.

Recyclability: It is nearly impossible to recycle most vinyl materials. That is because

the recycling process requires you to have a consistent level of various substances
throughout the material makeup of the vinyl. Unfortunately, different types of vinyl
have different chemical compositions, often making them incompatible. This is
compounded by the adhesives which are usually stuck to the vinyl when old floors
are lifted from underlayment layers.

In some cases, manufacturers are getting around this issue by using lower quality
recycled vinyl materials as filler underneath the surface layer. These layers don’t get
exposed to foot traffic or spills and therefore do not require the chemical consistency
that top layers need.

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