Scientific American: Health Concerns Mount as More Old Sewer Pipes Are Lined with Plastic

A company renovated old pipes by using a new technique called cured-in-place pipes. The workers thread a polyester or vinyl ester resin sleeve through and underground pipe and heat it with steam or hot water. The sleeve then expands and hardens to form a plastic liner inside the old pipes. However, when installers used steam to harden the resin, it released a mixture of vaporized and liquid droplets of hazardous pollutants, such as styrene and methylene chloride, as well as dibutyl phthalate. This caused the people who used the water coming from the cured-in-place pipes to experience nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. The victims also had burning sensations in their eyes, mouth, and throat, and numbness in their mouths. For the full article, click here.