Inspired by her objections to new vinyl siding recently put on her parents' house, filmmaker Judith Helfand (Peabody winner for the autobiographical A Healthy Baby Girl [VL-5/97] about her own battle with cervical cancer) set out to catalog the very real--and very hushed-up--dangers of PVC, the most prevalent kind of plastic in the world. The result is an amusing and irreverent but also resonant exposé in which she visits every step in the pollution- and chemical-laden cycle of manufacturing and disposing of PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which is used to make everything from water mains to Barbie dolls to medical supplies to Habitat for Humanity quick-build houses. Helfand learns that while PVC products appear to be relatively innocuous, 1) the cancer rates are enormous among those who work at or live near the chemical plants that create the stuff, 2) the dioxin fumes when it burns are almost instantly lethal, and 3) PVC is cost-prohibitive to recycle. She also runs afoul of the Vinyl Institute, the industry's spin organization of PR slicksters who have, since 1971, helped bury definitive studies proving that the chemicals are dangerous. Entertaining in its sardonic style (the sometimes awkward Helfand always carries a piece of her parents' house siding with her), Blue Vinyl allows the industry its rather laughable say, but presents a scientifically persuasive case that PVC chemicals are now getting into the atmosphere, groundwater, and the food chain. As for Helfand's parents, convincing them to redo their house in an eco-friendly alternative siding also turns out to be an uphill battle. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Blackwelder)
Blue Vinyl
(2002) 97 min. VHS or DVD: $295. Bullfrog Films. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 1-59458-030-8. Volume 19, Issue 6
Blue Vinyl
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