Vinyl Chloride
VC·Affects liver, reproductive
An IARC Group 1 known human carcinogen tied to liver angiosarcoma. Enters drinking water from old PVC pipe degradation, landfill leachate, and as the final breakdown product of TCE and PCE plumes.
VC
EPA limit
0.002 mg/L (MCL)
Most at risk
Households on old PVC plumbing, residents near landfills or TCE/PCE plumes
Found in
City water · Well water · Industrial areas
AquaOx filters
YesActivated coconut shell carbon
What it does to you
Health effects
Vinyl chloride is one of the few chemicals the IARC classifies in Group 1, known to cause cancer in humans. The signature disease is hepatic angiosarcoma, a rare and aggressive liver cancer that occurs at elevated rates in workers chronically exposed to vinyl chloride monomer. Liver and biliary tract cancers, brain tumors, and lung cancer have all been documented in occupational cohorts.
Beyond cancer, chronic exposure damages the liver itself, suppresses the immune system, and is linked to reproductive harm including reduced fertility and elevated rates of miscarriage in exposed partners. The EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level Goal for vinyl chloride is zero. The enforceable MCL of 2 ppb is one of the lowest EPA limits for any VOC, set at the practical detection floor for routine compliance testing.
Vinyl chloride is highly volatile, so showering and dishwashing release it into indoor air where it is inhaled. Inhalation exposure can equal or exceed ingestion exposure for households on contaminated supplies.
Where it comes from
How it gets into your water
Vinyl chloride enters drinking water through three main routes. The first is degradation of older PVC plastic pipes: vinyl chloride is the monomer that polymerizes to make PVC, and residual unreacted monomer can leach from pipe walls, especially in pre-1977 distribution piping and in hot-water lines. Modern PVC manufactured under the EPA's NSF 61 standard tightly limits residual monomer, so the concern is mostly with legacy pipe.
The second route is industrial contamination at PVC manufacturing and processing sites, and leachate from landfills containing PVC waste. The third, and increasingly the dominant detection pathway, is microbial dechlorination of chlorinated solvents in groundwater. When TCE and PCE plumes break down sequentially through cis-1,2-DCE, vinyl chloride is the final daughter product before complete dechlorination. Detecting vinyl chloride in a well almost always means a parent solvent plume is present upgradient.
Old PVC plumbing
Residual monomer leaches from pre-1977 pipe
Landfill leachate
Buried PVC waste releases monomer
TCE/PCE breakdown
Final daughter product of chlorinated solvent plumes
PVC manufacturing
Industrial discharge near production facilities
Find out for yourself
Is it in your water?
Vinyl chloride is on the EPA's regulated contaminant list, so every public water system tests for it and reports results in the annual Consumer Confidence Report. It is usually below the detection limit in finished municipal water. When it does appear, it most often shows up in distribution-system sampling rather than at the treatment plant, indicating leaching from older PVC mains.
Private well owners near landfills, PVC manufacturing facilities, or known TCE or PCE plumes should request a full VOC panel that explicitly includes vinyl chloride. State environmental quality offices maintain maps of Superfund sites and dry-cleaner cleanup locations. If a parent solvent like TCE has been detected nearby, assume vinyl chloride is the eventual breakdown product and test accordingly.
The fix
How AquaOx filters it
Vinyl chloride is filtered efficiently by activated carbon. The Centaur catalytic carbon and coconut shell carbon stages in The AquaOx adsorb vinyl chloride as water passes through the bed, with independent testing showing reductions of more than 95% across the chlorinated VOC family.
Whole-house treatment matters here because vinyl chloride is so volatile. A kitchen-tap-only system leaves the household exposed every time someone showers, runs the dishwasher, or fills a bathtub. For homes on known plumes or with old PVC plumbing, we recommend pairing The AquaOx with the under-sink RO at the kitchen tap for a second-stage polish on drinking and cooking water.
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