What’s Wrong with Vinyl Shower Curtains?

I’ve complained in the past about the totally-out-of-proportion difficulty we had picking out a shower curtain, which eventually led us to design our own.  It seriously took us like a year to wrestle that problem to the ground.  A big factor in this is that we were totally avoiding a big part of the market: PVC vinyl shower curtains.

What’s Wrong with Vinyl Shower Curtains

I was really worried about the health effects of PVC.  As you probably (hopefully) have heard by now, vinyl shower curtains off-gas a whole host of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) – 108 of them, according to one study.  That’s what makes up that terrible, sickening, new shower curtain smell.

And if you haven’t heard about this before: You’re in luck!  Read on.

Not all chemicals are bad, obviously.  Water is a chemical.  But at least 7 of the chemicals off-gassed by PVC shower curtains have been identified by the US EPA as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, others have been linked to bad heath effects, and little information is available on the toxicity of many of them.

You probably don’t really want to hear about what these are, but I’ll go ahead and list a selection anyway:

• Toluene: liver and kidney damage, birth defects, etc.
• Ethylbenzene: respiratory effects, animal tests indicate potential for hearing and liver damage, and cancer risk.
• Phenol: anorexia, diarrhea, animal tests indicate potential for central nervous system, kidney, liver, etc. effects.
• Methyl isobutyl ketone: nausea, headache, weakness, etc.
• Xylene: depression, insomnia, agitation, extreme tiredness, tremors, impaired concentration and short-term memory.
• Cumene: skin and eye irritant, potent central nervous system depressant action in animals.
• Phthalates (which are added to help soften the plastic):  linked to birth defects, breast cancer, lowered testosterone and metabolism, and fertility issues.
• Organotins (found in some shower curtains): linked to obesity, as well as endocrine disruption and reproductive and developmental harm.
• Various Metals, including in some cases mercury and lead.

I am neither a doctor nor a chemist (and not a scientist of any kind).  However, looking at that list, I don’t think I’ll risk it.

Worse, these chemicals can off-gas over a long period of time and some can also cling to household dust and continue to circulate.  And some (like phthalates) actually release more when exposed to hot and humid conditions… like a shower.

All of this contributes to poor indoor air quality.  This isn’t usually what we think of when worrying about pollution, but it’s kind of a big deal.  We spend most of our time indoors (reading awesome blogs, for example) and indoor pollution levels are generally 2 to 5 times worse than outdoors.

And this is particularly concerning for women who may want to have children (because some are linked to birth defects) and for children themselves (because they breathe more in relation to their body size than adults, and are at more fragile stages of development).

Also, for those of you interested in buying moral, sustainable products, you should know that working in PVC facilities is linked to higher rates of cancer and that PVC production releases a whole host of pollutants into the environment.

Bummer.

What To Do About It

First off, if you’re worried if you have a PVC vinyl shower curtain, you can check to see if it has a recycling symbol on it with a number “3” inside.  They’re not always labeled, but if they are it should be in this way.

Then, if you MUST have a plastic-y looking shower curtain (I would ask you: “why?”)  you should know more and more companies are making alternatives out of PEVA or EVA plastic.  These are essentially forms of vinyl made without chlorine (which contributes to the off-gassing issues).  I believe that these are low-VOC rather than no-VOC, and are still made out of petroleum, but are an improvement.  And if you really want a plastic liner, these safer ones are pretty affordable – like this one from West Elm for only $12.

But really, the best alternative is to find a shower curtain made out of some form of cloth, like cotton, hemp, or polyester.  I find that these also look more “high-end” and generally make the bathroom more inviting and homey, and less dorm-y.

Edited to add: I got a great question in the comments about transitioning to a cloth shower curtain, and whether it hangs inside or outside of the shower.  I use a decorative cloth curtain (hanging outside the tub) with a cloth liner (hanging inside the tub).  The liner is just basic polyester, and I got it from K-Mart (I think).  It works great.  The shower curtain itself rarely gets wet and is still pristine.  We just wash the liner every once in a while with a bit of bleach or vinegar to keep it clean and white.

Fortunately, some companies have either switched away from PVC entirely, or offer a good number of alternatives in fabric or PEVA/EVA.

My Favorite Fabric Shower Curtains

Obviously, my favorite fabric shower curtain is the one that I designed myself and printed at Cafe Press.  It is polyester (so has less eco-street-cred than hemp, for example) but is much safer than vinyl and allowed me to create my own design.

But if you’re in the market for a shower curtain and don’t want to design your own (again, I ask: “why?”) there are loads of high-impact ones out there.

See, who needs vinyl?

 

(Sharing at Weekend Re-Treat Link Party,  Two Uses Tuesday,  Tip Me Tuesday, and  Link Party Palooza)