Scientists are starting to become more focused on the health dangers imposed on the public by the vinyl chloride used in the production of PVC and CPVC pipes for potable water supply. Is any Home Inspector calling out PVC supply piping as a possible health hazard?
I put PVC/CPVC and PEX warnings in every report.
All the stuff municipality’s put in water, you don’t want to drink it for sure.
Do you mean PB (not PEX)?
And what do you bring attention to in PVC/CPVC? The propensity for breakage?
No PEX… PEX the “new” PB, thanks for the article BTW
Yes, there is a lot of failing pvc/cpvc in this area, every major PEX manufacturer has class actions against them. Had a discussion with a client who asked why do they use it then? It’s cheaper and anyone can put it together.
Wow. I didn’t realize the (newer) PEX was proving to be such a problem. The plumber in this article lays out the bad poop on the subject. He even recommends going back to PVC, along with copper. But he wrote the article in 2020. That is light years ago in today’s climate.
You realize that Europe has been using PEX since the 70s? I first started installing it around 2001 or so with the Wirsbo product and switched to Viega some years after that. I am not a plumber, I only saw PEX in industrial sites and my own home, I.e. the stuff I put there.
I have never had a leaking pex pipe that wasn’t because some numbnutz ran into a rack and pushed into the wall.
My first trip to a factory in England was the first time I saw it. I figured it’d be all steam punk over there, but nope. Everything, heating and potable was PEX.
That cha-ching I hear must be the sound of the price of copper rising.
I’ve somewhat been expecting this for years with plastic everything. At this point I don’t think as HIs we should go too crazy as the source for the article is a “coalition of environmental advocacy groups.” If/when the CPSC jumps on board it will/would have a much greater impact.
So you report what you don’t know…
Do you test outside the SOP before you call out a problem, or just make it up as you go?
I’ve never called out those specific material used as a defective or as potential health hazards. Not to say they won’t be in the future.
There’s still thousands of lead pipes in Cincinnati that are performing just fine, but because of what happened in flint I now and have been calling them out as potential health hazards, also the local water companies (and the Fed Government) have plans in place to replace them all.
just living is a potential health hazard these days You can’t write up everything…
I call out lead water lines as the health problems with lead have been well documented in my opinion. I call out polybutylene as well. I don’t call out the others as of now.
Living to the leading cause of death.
There is nothing in that article that actually states PVC is indeed dangerous.
The funny thing is the article tries to make copper sound oh much more safe.
But a quick Google search of the term “copper pipes dangerous” brings up all sorts of articles on the danger of using copper for water pipes.
So are we supposed to call out copper as well?
If we keep going down this rabbit hole, there is no material that is safe!
Better just recommend a house that has no indoor plumbing.
I think that’s a slippery slope calling out PVC and CPVC as a health issue. Our job is to inform, not to scare people.
I have not been bold enough to do so yet… but you’re not finding that stuff in my personal home, on the same chemical leaching issues.
What don’t I know within your statement?
I’ve been drinking only bottled water (with rare exceptions) for the past 45 years. And I hope you and your family do the same. The public water systems don’t get maintained properly. It’s the same for private wells, which rarely get tested by the proud owners. And then the household pipes, fittings and fixtures trap all the worst of the crap.
Report: 64% of Bottled Water Is Tap Water, Costs 2000x More - EcoWatch.
What is your preferred brand of bottled water?
I hope your a bit more selective than just “bottled”.
Plenty of bottled water is simply tap water (labeled “purified”) sold in containers.