Levelling the Trade Field

How safe is the water we drink from our taps, supplied through pipes made of PVC?

- JAIJIT BHATTACHARYA

PVC, if not manufactured with high standards, contains high levels of residual vinyl chloride monomer (RVCM), a chemical that causes cancer. It leads to increased risk of liver angiosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and other liver cancers, as well as brain and lung cancers, lymphoma and leukaemia.

What is worse is that India's ambitious irrigation programmes, such as the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme, the Per Drop More Crop initiative and the Har Khet Ko Pani scheme, are all dependent on PVC.

As water flows through PVC pipes into farms, it pumps carcinogens into vegetables. These are consumed by humans, as is the drinking water supplied through pipes. It is here in the human body that the concentration of the carcinogens starts accumulating, as we eat more vegetables and other farm products and drink more water.

Right to Regulate

How do we get PVC that is not carcinogenic? It is possible to obtain safer PVC through an alternative manufacturing process, which is adopted by many Indian and international manufacturers. But if Indian and most international manufacturers have already adopted such a manufacturing process, why are we bothered by the effects of poor-quality PVC?

It is because, like most other intermediate materials such as steel, manmade fibre and nylon, we also import PVC from multiple countries. And when such products are imported from China or factories set up by the Chinese in places such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and so on, they are manufactured through cheaper processes, with scant regard to local environmental impact, churning out cheaper products.