| Chemical Abstract Number (CAS #) |
75014
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| Synonyms | Vinyl chloride |
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Ethene, chloro- |
| Analytical Methods |
EPA Method 502.2 |
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EPA Method 524.1 |
EPA Method 524.2 |
EPA Method 601 |
EPA Method 624 |
EPA Method 8010B |
EPA Method 8021A |
EPA Method 8240B |
EPA Method 8260A |
| Molecular Formula | C2H3Cl |
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| Use | IN PLASTIC INDUSTRY; AS REFRIGERANT; IN ORGANIC SYNTHESES.
MONOMER FOR POLY(VINYL CHLORIDE) HOMOPOLYMER.
COMONOMER-EG, WITH VINYL ACETATE OR VINYLIDENE CHLORIDE.
CHEM INTERMED FOR METHYL CHLOROFORM & 1,1,1-TRICHLOROETHANE.
CHEM INTERMED FOR OTHER ORG CHEMS-EG, CHLOROACETALDEHYDE.
MONOMER & COMONOMER FOR FIBERS-EG, VINYON & SARAN FIBERS.
OXIDN INHIBITOR IN ETHYLENE OXIDE PRODN.
REFRIGERANT & EXTRACTION SOLVENT (FORMER USE).
Vinyl chloride is used in the manufacture of numerous products in building and construction,
automotive industry, electrical wire insulation and cables, piping, industrial and household
equipment, medical supplies, and is depended upon heavily by the rubber, paper, and glass
industries.
Adhesives for plastics
Vinyl chloride was formerly a component of aerosol propellants. Vinyl chloride and vinyl
acetate copolymers are used extensively to produce vinyl asbestos floor tiles.
Limited quantities of chloroethene were used in the United States as an aerosol propellant and
as an ingredient of drug and cosmetic products. (Former use)
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| Consumption Patterns | MONOMER FOR POLY(VINYL CHLORIDE) RESINS, 85%; EXPORTS, 13.5%;
MISCELLANEOUS (MOSTLY COPOLYMER USE), 1.5% (1982)
95% FOR POLYVINYL CHLORIDE HOMOPOLYMER AND COPOLYMER RESIN; 4%
FOR SYNTHESIS OF METHYL CHLOROFORM; 1% FOR MISC APPLICATIONS (1972)
91% FOR POLYVINYL CHLORIDE
CHEMICAL PROFILE: Vinyl Chloride. Polyvinyl chloride, 91%; exports, 7%; other, including
chlorinated solvents, 2%.
CHEMICAL PROFILE: Vinyl chloride. Demand: 1988: 9.1 billion lb; 1989: 9.2 billion lb; 1993
/projected/: 11.0 billion lb. (Includes exports, but not imports, which totaled 227 million lb last
year.)
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| Apparent Color | COLORLESS GAS OR LIQUID
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| Odor | Ethereal odor ; Sweet odor
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| Boiling Point | -13.37 deg C
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| Melting Point | -153.8 deg C
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| Molecular Weight | 62.50
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| Density | 0.9106 @ 20 DEG C/4 DEG C
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| Odor Threshold Concentration | Although vinyl chloride has an odor at high concn, it is of no value in preventing
excessive exposure. The actual vapor concn that can be detected has never been adequately
determined and varies from one individual to another, from impurities in the sample and probably
from duration of exposure.
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| Sensitivity Data | Primary irritant for skin .
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| Environmental Impact | Although vinyl chloride is produced in large quantities, almost all of it is used captively
for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other polymers. Therefore, its major release to
the environment will be as emissions and wastewater at these production and manufacturing
facilities. If vinyl chloride is released to soil, it will be subject to rapid volatilization with reported
half-lives of 0.2 and 0.5 days for evaporation from soil at 1 and 10 cm incorporation, respectively.
Any vinyl chloride which does not evaporate will be expected to be highly to very highly mobile in
soil and it may leach to the groundwater. It may be subject to biodegradation under anaerobic
conditions such as exists in flooded soil and groundwater. If vinyl chloride is released to water, it
will not be expected to hydrolyze, to bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms or to adsorb to
sediments. It will be subject to rapid volatilization with an estimated half-life of 0.805 hr for
evaporation from a river 1 m deep with a current of 3 m/sec and a wind velocity of 3 m/sec. In
waters containing photosensitizers such as humic acid, photodegradation will occur fairly rapidly.
Limited existing data indicate that vinyl chloride is resistant to biodegradation in aerobic systems
and therefore, it may not be subject to biodegradation in aerobic soils and natural waters. It will
not be expected to hydrolyze in soils or natural waters under normal environmental conditions. If
vinyl chloride is released to the atmosphere, it can be expected to exist mainly in the vapor-phase
in the ambient atmosphere and to degrade rapidly in air by gas-phase reaction with
photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals with an estimated half-life of 1.5 days. Products of
reaction in the atmosphere include chloroacetaldehyde, hydrogen chloride, chloroethylene
epoxide, formaldehyde, formyl chloride, formic acid, and carbon monoxide. In the presence of
nitrogen oxides, eg photochemical smog situations, the half-life would be reduced to
approximately a few hours. Since vinyl chloride is primarily used in limited number of locations, it
is unlikely that contamination will be widespread. Major human exposure will be from inhalation
of occupational atmospheres and from ingestion of contaminated food and drinking water which
has come into contact with polyvinyl chloride packaging material or pipe which has not been
treated adequately to remove residual monomer.
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| Environmental Fate | TERRESTRIAL FATE: If vinyl chloride is released to soil, it will be subject to rapid
volatilization based on a reported vapor pressure of 2660 mm Hg at 25 deg C ; half-lives of 0.2
and 0.5 days were reported for volatilization from soil incorporated into 1 and 10 cm of oil,
respectively . Any vinyl chloride which does not evaporate will be expected to be highly mobile
in soil. It may be subject to biodegradation under anaerobic conditions such as exists in flooded
soil and groundwater; however, limited existing data indicate that vinyl chloride is resistant to
biodegradation in aerobic systems and therefore, it may not be subject to biodegradation in natural
waters. It will not be expected to hydrolyze in soils under normal environmental conditions.
AQUATIC FATE: If vinyl chloride is released to water, it will not be expected to hydrolyze, to
bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms or to adsorb to sediments. It will be subject to rapid
volatilization with an estimated half-life of 0.805 hr for evaporation from a river 1 m deep with a
current of 3 m/sec and a wind velocity of 3 m/sec(1,SRC). In waters containing photosensitizers
such as humic acid, photodegradation will occur fairly rapidly. Limited existing data indicate that
vinyl chloride is resistant to biodegradation in aerobic systems and therefore, it may not be subject
to biodegradation in natural waters.
ATMOSPHERIC FATE: If vinyl chloride is released to the atmosphere, it can be expected to
exist mainly in the vapor-phase in the ambient atmosphere(1,SRC) based on a reported vapor
pressure of 2660 mm Hg at 25 deg C . Gas phase vinyl chloride is expected to degrade rapidly
in air by reaction with photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals with an estimated half-life of
1.5 days(3,SRC). Products of reaction in the atmosphere include chloroacetaldehyde, HCl,
chloroethylene epoxide, formaldehyde, formyl chloride, formic acid, and carbon monoxide . In
the presence of nitrogen oxides, eg photochemical smog situations, the half-life would be reduced
to a few hours.
AQUATIC FATE: The rate of bulk exchange of gaseous vinyl chloride between atmosphere
and water is about twice that of oxygen. As a result the loss of vinyl chloride by volatilization
from water is probably the most significant process in its distribution. There is little information
pertaining specifically to the rate of adsorption onto particulate matter. In a study on the
behavior of vinyl chloride in water no significant difference in the rate of loss from distilled
water, river water, or effluent from a vinyl chloride plant stirred at the same rate was found, thus
indicating negligible adsorption onto particulate matter. Aquatic sediments could exhibit
long-term storage of low levels if extreme environmental conditions, such as continual high
levels of vinyl chloride input were present in water.
AQUATIC FATE: In environments such as municipal water chlorination facilities, high
concentrations of chloride would exist. Under certain conditions, vinyl chloride may be converted
to more highly chlorinated compounds based on the reactivity of carbon-carbon double bonds
with chlorine and hypohalous acid. Dissolved vinyl chloride in water will readily escape into the
gas phase, but chemical reactions can occur with water impurities which may inhibit its release.
Many salts have the ability to form complexes with vinyl chloride and can increase its solubility.
Therefore, the amounts of vinyl chloride in water could be influenced significantly by the presence
of salts.
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| Drinking Water Impact | DRINKING WATER: In the National Organic Monitoring Survey (1976-7) 2 samples
out of 113 contained detectable levels (>0.1 ppb) and these averaged 0.14 ppb . Highest value
found in USA drinking water is 10 ppb(5,7). 23% of 133 USA cities using finished surface water
were pos, 0.1 to 9.8 ppb, 0.4 ppb median of pos samples . A finished groundwater survey in 25
USA cities resulted in 4.0% pos, 9.4 ppb mean(2,6). One contaminated drinking water well
contained 50 ppb . Drinking water from PVC pipes contained 1.4 ppb in a recent installation,
while a 9 yr old system had 0.03 to 0.06 ppb .
DRINKING WATER: USA: National Screening Program, 1977-1981, 142 water supplies, 4.9%
pos, trace to 76 ppb ; state sampling data, 1033 supplies sampled, 7.1% pos, trace to 380
ppb .
GROUNDWATER: 4 of 1060 wells in New Jersey were positive . Vinyl chloride (VC) was
present in the 10 most polluted wells from 408 New Jersey samples; however, vinyl chloride was
not quantified . 15.4% of 13 US cities sampled were pos - 2.2 to 9.4 ppb, 5.8 ppb median(1,2).
In a 9-state survey, 7% of the wells tested were positive, with a maximum value of 380 ppb
reported . After train derailment in Manitoba on Mar 10, 1980, in which large amounts of VC
was spilled in the snow, 10 ppm max occurred in groundwater which decreased to below 0.02
ppm by 10 wk after the spill(6).
GROUNDWATER: USA 1982 National Ground Water Supply Survey, 466 samples, 1 sample
pos at 1.1 ppb (1 ppb quantification limit) .
SURFACE WATER: 9.8 ppb max value found in a 1981, 9 state survey(2,3). It was not detected
in winter or summer samples from the Delaware River . Vinyl chloride has been detected in 21
out of 606 samples from New Jersey and other USA samples(6). 7.6% of 105 USA cities were
positive with pos samples ranging from 0.2 to 5.1 ppb, 3.25 ppb median .
On the basis of various model simulations it appears that vinyl chloride should not remain in the
aquatic ecosystem under most natural conditions. The loss of vinyl chloride at constant
temperature and pressure is a function of water turbulence and mixing efficiency.
Experimental decrease of 16 mg/l is 96% in 2 hours when stirred rapidly at 22 deg C in an
open beaker of distilled water. In contrast, quiescent water under the same conditions yielded a
concn loss over 2 hours of only 25%. Assuming that all processes involved are strictly first order,
the volatilization loss data above yields half-lives of 25.8 minutes for the stirred case and 290
minutes for the quiescent case.
EFFL: The only industry with appreciable waste water effluents of vinyl chloride is the organic
chemicals mfg/plastic industry where mean levels are 750 ppb . Waste water from 12 PVC
plants in 7 USA areas ranged from 0.05 to 20 ppm with typical levels being 2 to 3 ppm . Vinyl
chloride has been detected in effluents from chemical and latex plants in Long Beach,
California . It was not detected in effluents from major municipal waste water discharges in
Southern California . Groundwater from hazardous waste sites, CERCLA Database, 178 sites,
8.7% pos for vinyl chloride .
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