Releases of Fire-Derived Contaminants from Polymer Pipes Made of Polyvinyl Chloride
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Abstract
In order to assess the human exposure risks from the release of contaminants from water pipes made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), experiments were carried out by subjecting the PVC pipe material to burning and leaching conditions followed by analysis of the emission and leachate samples. The emissions of burning pipes were analyzed by both infrared spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The emission test results indicate the presence of chlorinated components including chlorine dioxide, methyl chloride, methylene chloride, allyl chloride, vinyl chloride, ethyl chloride, 1-chlorobutane, tetrachloroethylene, chlorobenzene, and hydrogen chloride were detected in the emissions of burning PVC pipes. Furthermore, the concentrations of benzene, 1,3-butadiene, methyl methacrylate, carbon monoxide, acrolein, and formaldehyde were found at levels capable of affecting human health adversely. The analysis of PVC pipe leachates using GC-MS shows that there are 40–60 tentatively identified compounds, mostly long-chain hydrocarbons such as tetradecane, hexadecane, octadecane, and docosane, were released when the burned PVC materials were soaked in deionized water for one week. Quantitative analysis shows that 2-butoxyethanol, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, and diethyl phthalate were found in the burned PVC polymer at the average levels of 2.7, 14.0, and 3.1 micrograms per gram (μg/g) of pipe material. This study has significant implications for understanding the benzene contamination of drinking water in the aftermath of wildfires that burned polymer pipes in California.
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The origin of the benzene may include combustion of residential materials, thermal degradation or pyrolysis of plastic pipes, water meters, and other components of the water system itself, as well as wood smoke.
“The origin of the benzene may include the combustion of residential materials, thermal degradation or pyrolysis of plastic pipes, water meters, and other components of the water system itself, as well as wood smoke.7,16,17”
From Fire and Water: Assessing Drinking Water Contamination After a Major Wildfire (2021) · cites this paper as [16]
The Introduction (page not specified) identifies burning polymer products in municipal pipes and residential buildings, as well as burning biomass, as possible benzene sources. The Results (§3.3; page not specified) detect benzene in emissions from burning PVC pipe and cellulosic biomass. The paper does not identify water meters or other water-system components as benzene sources. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Chong, N. S., Abdulramoni, S., Patterson, D., & Brown, H.
- Affiliations
- Middle Tennessee State University (US)
- Dow Chemical (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chong, Ngee Sing
- ORCID
- Chong, Ngee Sing
- Venue
- Toxics
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2019-11-11
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 57
- ISSN
- 2305-6304 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6958356
- OpenAlex
- W2986177084
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 2.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Toxics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Preprints.org (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA) Research and Education Foundation (537135)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer Science and PVC
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Water Treatment and Disinfection
- Keywords
- PVC pipes, fire emissions, leachate, chlorinated compounds, vinyl chloride, tetrachloroethylene, phthalates, diethyl phthalate, 2-butoxyethanol, 2-ethylhexanol, long-chain hydrocarbons, benzene contamination, drinking water contamination, forest fires, human exposure risk
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