Sir, - Mr Reg McCabe, director of the Irish Plastic Industries Association, in dismissing my earlier comments about PVC windows makes some assertions that need to be countered.He claims PVC is "low-cost and durable". It is not. Hardwood windows may last hundreds of years; PVC begins to tarnish after 20 years. A 1993 report to Carlisle City Council concluded that the lifetime cost of high-performance softwood windows was lower than that of PVC windows: "Timber windows have been found to be efficient, have generally proved popular with tenants and are environmentally more friendly. After installation, the heat-saving properties of timber windows is better than in PVC versions."Mr McCabe claims PVC is versatile. It is not. The chairman of the Energy and Environmental Group of the Royal Institute of British Architects is quoted on the subject of PVC in windows in a recent article in the English Independent on Sunday: "Because it's not particularly strong, it has to be put together in large sections. Hence the clumsy crosspieces and, because of the problems of light and reflection, the failure of attempts to recreate them with false bars inside the sealed units of double-glazing."Mr McCabe claims PVC is widely and safely used in the healthcare sector. But there are concerns about the use of PVC in blood-transfusion products because of the release of phthalate plasticiser additives such as DINP, which has so many potential adverse effects that it carries warnings under the EU Hazardous Substance Directive and is currently beginning to be phased out by the Danish Government.PVC comes from the same family of chlorinated chemicals as PCBs, CFCs and DDT. The Austrian Supreme Court recently upheld the right of Greenpeace to describe PVC as an "environmental poison" in the face of objections by PVC manufacturing concerns.Others have concerns about PVC in fires. A 1993 report by scientists at the German Environment Protection Agency concluded: "In recent years it has become clear that PVC gives rise to dioxins and furans when burnt - a fact that not only causes environmental damage, but also results in major problems for worker safety and high decontamination costs in the wake of fires." In the 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, 161 people died as a direct result of PVC, when PVC wiring decomposed with no visible flames.The secretary of the British Fire Brigades Union wrote recently: "The FBU is now particularly concerned about the safety of PVC-based building materials that are used in the construction and fitting out of buildings, when involved in fire . . . There now exists a substantial body of evidence which shows that the combustion of PVC in a fire leads to the release of dioxins and furans which may then be spread over a wide area by the smoke plume from the fire. Dioxins are one of the most toxic chemicals known.
They have been linked to human immune system problems and cancer. Dioxin is also a potent hormone disrupter . . .". An Taisce now calls for a fire-toxicity test for all building products - starting with PVC.The author of the same Independent on Sunday article, headline "They're cheap and effective - and ugly and they poison the environment", says that "for a graphic and depressing example of [PVC problems], try driving coast-to-coast, as I did recently, along country roads in the Republic of Ireland; you'll see how much the character of period farmhouses and cottages, and their surroundings, have been changed along with their windows".On grounds of aesthetics; fire-safety; pollution during production and incineration; and difficulties in recycling, PVC is an unsustainable material and is best avoided. - Yours, etc.,From Michael SmithChairman, Dublin City Association, An Taisce, Tailor's Hall, Dublin 8.