PCE sprayed vinyl drinking water pipes

[ttweed@wildrockies.org (Tony Tweedale)]

Paulu, Aschengrau & Ozonoff: "Tetrachlorethelyne-contaminated
drinking-water in MA & the risk of colon-rectal, lung & other cancers',
_Env. Health Perspect's_ 107:4:265-71 (4-99)

note: 'tetrachlorethene' is the correct and recommended spelling by organic
chemists; "tetrachlorethelyne" is the archaic spelling, even if everyone
continues to use it.  Ditto for other double C=C bond compounds the '-ene'
word ending denotes--adding '-ly' just confuses the issue.  ('-anes' denote
single C-C bond, which also means the molecule is saturated w/ H or
substitutes for H).  Organic chem. nomenclature is complicated enuf already
w/out '-elynes'!  Perchlorethene is also accepted formal name for this
o-cl.  'per' is derived from '4' in, I guess, latin; and thus the
abbreviation PCE (using 'per-' and PCE are preferred also to help
distinguish from TCE, trichlorethene (the only possible trichlorinated
ethene, I think).
--

Due to "acidity problems" (presumably corrosion in metal pipes), 6 New
England states in the late 1960's installed asbestos cement pipes lined w/
vinyl.  Johns-Manville sprayed the vinyl-toluene resin (a PVC copolymer, or
PVC suspended in toluene?) onto the (insides, presumably) of the pipes,
using PCE as a solvent.  "It was assumed the PCE would evaporate ... some
installers noted that the pipe was wet upon arrival."  MA found 660 m of
this pipe, and, some 10+ years after instalation, detected up to 18,000
ug/L (approx. 18 ppm, as that's a wt/vol ratio), in samples where water had
sat for long periods.  Hard to believe 660m of pipe supplied enough cases
for this study that analyzed hundreds of cancer cases...

This is the latest in a series of cancer association studies in water
drinkers from these pipes, generally finding significant associations w/
various cancers.

Wonder how prevalent this pipe is arond the world...?

Tony Tweedale

Causality is a concept not subject to empirical demonstration. -David Hume
(1711-'76)

Temperate but endangered planet.  Enjoys weather, northern lights,
continental drift.  Seeks caring relationship with intelligent life form.
      -Friends of the Earth