Today I was browsing around the web looking for information on the chemical composition of plastics used in action figures, such as PVC.

What I found was horrifying. The following is a link to the section on PVC from the book "The Story of Stuff". Before I read this I knew PVC was bad, but I had no idea HOW BAD. This is a must read for any action figure collector:

http://books.google.com/books?id=1O82u9RU4L8C&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=%22pernicious+vile+compound%22&source=bl&ots=7IP_NSBrFc&sig=iMC730tvcFe_yx1tPOzDp9Vc30Y&hl=en&sa=X&ei=z_HDT8X8HIHk9ATXi9THCw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22pernicious%20vile%20compound%22&f=false

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How ironic that so many PVC action figures are made of heroic characters like Superman and Swamp Thing. Were these characters to actually exist, they would probably try to stop the PVC action figures of themselves being made, because it is that harmful to the health of both people and the environment.

Sorry, but not surprised. Just another example of how anything and everything can kill you.

Just enjoy life while you got it.

Well at least that book/article was written with no bias and no axe to grind. You have to love objectivity.

But Julius, didn't a doctor also tell you that you were around too much plastic?

I heard Jason Linzi mention something about it on one of the GSI podcasts.

no. He was making a joke.

With enough "research" and "evidence" anything is harmful to the environment.

On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.

This can be applied to anything...

Hell the air we breath is full of toxins. People who love under high voltage power lines get brain cancer. Drink too much C affine, eat too much red meat, do this, do that...

Read about something long enough more in depth and you'll find people screaming it's bad for you.

Best advice in this entire thread. Enjoy your life, enjoy what you like and don't trivialize everything. Even worrying too much can be bad for your health.

James, if you really want to take a stand, why not put your efforts toward banning Dihydrogen Monoxide, a substance far more dangerous than PVC will ever be.

I use that name all the time with my students. It really freaks them out, at least until a couple of them "get it" and spread the word.

I came home from work to find my son passed out on the kitchen floor with a large glass of dihydrogen monoxide spilled out next to him.

I panicked.
I scooped him up.
I even called Poison Control.

Thank goodness that a glass of milk was strong enough to coat his stomach and stop the madness.

Now see-

I was going to skip this thread based upon who started it----glad I finally broke down..

That's great!

I feel kinda bad that I made the joke that I did.

But c'mon! Someone had to do it. And besides, I didn't start it.



So, James,

... just, ya know, don't go spending all your time sucking on your little plastic people, or seal yourself off in an airtight room and huff all day and you'll be fine (or at least as fine as you can be in this day and age of doom and gloom disease packaged in everything fun you could want).

Each figure now comes with a free packet of Ebola Virus.

It's not the Dihydrogen Monoxide I'm worried about, it's all the contaminants floating in it.

One of the main contaminants in "Dihydrogen Monoxide" happens to be plastic, which breaks down into tiny pieces called nurdles. These bits of plastic have permeated the oceans and are having a tremendously destructive impact on marine life.



^The North Pacific Gyre consists of over 7 million tons of plastic spanning an area twice the size of Texas. There is six times as much plastic in the gyre as there is plankton, and fish are eating it.