Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups (ethenyls) having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in construction because it is cheap, durable, and easily worked. PVC bag production is expected to exceed 40 million tonnes by 2016. According to IUPAC, polyvinyl chloride should be named poly(chloroethanediyl), but this name found no widespread use.
It can be made softer and more flexible by the addition of plasticizers, the most widely used being phthalates. In this form, it is used in clothing and upholstery, electrical cable insulation, inflatable products and many applications in which it replaces rubber.
PVC is a controversial material, in part because of the generic term which is applied to many products, but each product may have a difference in the chemicals used during its production. For example, drinking water PVC pipes do not contain the controversial chemicals that household plastics contain.Other concerns extend to the products useful life and incineration, especially in accidental and uncontrolled circumstances, it may liberate persistent toxins (see the section "Health and safety"), which the manufacture, use and destruction of suitable alternative plastics such as polypropylene do not.
