what health affects do chemicals used in plumbing have on a person?

Question

pvc primer and glue, smoke from welding copper

Answer 1

Polyvinyl chloride [PVC] Primer and glue are vinyl chloride and solvents. Several years ago the auto-industry workers were plagued with an unusual cancersof the liver called angiosarcoma. Epidemiologists determined that vinyl chloride (the cause of the so-called new auto smell) was involved in causing these tumors.

I personally worked on restoring my own house in the early 1970s which was around the same time that the auto industry was introducing more safety practices to minimize exposure of workers to vinyl chloride...I noticed that no such activity was being done in the plumbing industry (my father in law was a plumber) and the PVC glue containers did not have any warnings a that time. I haven't checked whether they were instituted but I would always use a chemical mask when working with PVC.

Smoke from soldering copper (I don't know about welding copper) probably includes strong acids and resins from the flux, and if you are using a lead and tin based solder there will be lead fumes as well. Your lungs can be burned by the acids in flux and your body can absorb the lead fumes and this can result in effects on your blood cells and on your nervous system. Again, use an appropriate barrier or respirator while working with solder.

This is why it is important that you use a respirator with specific chemical absorbing cartridges while working with vinyl chloride.

Answer 2

PVC
The toxicity of the waste has increased because polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. PVC plastic is nearly 57% chlorine by weight. Dioxins are waste by-products, toxic in such small quantities that they are measured in parts per trillion. Research has linked dioxins with cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, chloracne, and endocrine and immune disorders. The EPA recently reassessed dioxin and reported that it’s 10 times more toxic than previously believed. (See http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2001/apr/Health.htm)

Keep in mind, most report on PVC health issue relates to heating (e.g., using PVC for hot water plumbing) or burning the PVC (e.g., Hospital incineration of plastic (PVC) waste).
http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2001/apr/Health.htm

PVC also known as chloroethene, chloroethylene, and ethylene monochloride, is a carcinogen; hence causing liver cancer, angiosarcomas, and other health problems in people who are exposed to it in their work environment. (See http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/books/housing/cha09.htm)

PVC also contains phthalates, which accumulate in body tissues and can damage the liver and lungs. (See http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/books/housing/cha09.htm)

“Lead is used as a hardening agent to manufacture PVC materials. Therefore, it is very important that third-party testing be done on PVC piping. PVC piping should have the stamp of both the testing laboratory and a potable water (PW) mark to indicate that it meets appropriate standards for use as potable water piping.” (See http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/books/housing/cha09.htm)

Answer 3

I am a cancer nurse for many years. I have never treated one person that was a plumber. There are several jobs that put you at high risk, but I can not remember one plumber