What is PVA? Should it be in your home?

Picture this: you see some new ‘eco-friendly’ laundry sheets in the store, flip them over to check the ingredient list, and spot PVA. Polyvinyl Acetate… Hmm. What is PVA? And should it be in your home?

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Dec 2, 2024 - 15:54
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What is PVA? Should it be in your home?

Picture this: you see some new ‘eco-friendly’ laundry sheets in the store, flip them over to check the ingredient list, and spot PVA. Polyvinyl Acetate… Hmm. What is PVA? And should it be in your home?

Let’s talk about it, because like most things regarding your health and the environment… it’s complicated.

What is PVA? What is it used for?

PVA is short for Polyvinyl Acetate. It’s a synthetic polymer used across a wide variety of functions because it’s so versatile, but mostly applied as an adhesive or coating.

As a consumer, you’ll mostly see PVA in things like laundry pods or — for folks looking for a lower-waste options, ironically — in eco-friendly laundry sheets. This is because PVA is incredibly strong when dry but is also water soluble*, meaning that the outside of those laundry pods dissolve in water.

PVA is also used in white and wood glues because it forms incredibly strong bonds when it dries.

Is PVA actually water soluble?

OK, technically yes, PVA is water soluble. All I mean by that is if you drop a laundry sheet in water, it will dissolve. That said, does this plastic actually, fully dissolve?

Probably not.

It’s important to note that most PVAs are not actually water soluble! Why? Because it’s not safe to assume your wastewater treatment plant has the exact specifications needed to fully break down PVA — most plants in the US do not have that capacity. That study just linked suggests that over 75% of PVA persists in our waterways and our soil after dissolution.

What does that mean? Each laundry pod or sheet you put into the wash is actually sending tons of tiny microscopic bits of plastic into our water streams. Not ideal.

IS PVA biodegradable?

So maybe rather than asking if PVA is water soluble, the better question might be whether it’s biodegradable or not. (Need a quick refresher? Here’s what biodegradable means!)

While most manufactures would assure you otherwise — including “green” companies employing some greenwashing techniques — the science is pretty clear that PVA is not really biodegradable.

The Plastic Pollution Coalition interestingly notes:

The EPA currently lists PVA/PVOH on its Safer Choice and Safer Chemical Ingredients lists. But a close look at research on PVA/PVOH and the EPA’s generous criteria for “safe” standards shows that PVA/PVOH is not verifiably nor consistently biodegradable. According to EPA standards, if 60% of a substance has degraded into carbon dioxide and water in 28 days, it passes its OECD 301 standard, and can be called ”readily biodegradable”—even though it is not necessarily clear what happens to the remaining mass and chemistry of this substance when it is diluted with water.

I don’t like to delve into conspiratorial thinking, but the very true, non-conspiratorial fact is that we should not trust the FDA or the EPA blindly. At the end of the day, they are government institutions who are ruled by powerful corporate interests — the science is always influenced by politics and policy.

So while PVA is technically safe and biodegradable, it’s worth approaching the items we accept into our life with a very health dose of skepticism.

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What’s the environmental impact of PVA?

Don’t let anyone convince you they know 100% — the truth is we simply don’t have enough good data on the effects of synthetic plastic polymers like PVA to know exactly what their environmental impact is.

What we do know from studies is that when wastewater treatment plants with adequate facilities exist, the PVA does indeed work (AKA biodegrade) as expected. That said: we also already know that many wastewater facilities don’t have those capabilities, so…

Also please be aware as you look into studies regarding health and environmental concerns, many positive outcomes are found by researchers commissioned by the ingredient in question.

Is PVA harmful to humans?

In general, there’s not much to worry about direct harm regarding PVA, especially when in a coating form. (Aside from the larger, long-term impacts which we previously discussed as being unknown!)

PVA is generally considered non-toxic and safe for human use; the US FDA has even approved it for use in certain food packaging applications. As a glue, PVA may be a little more dangerous. Once dry, it’s fine but we all know the gross smell that comes from glues — work in well-ventilated areas and follow all manufacturer instructions!

The University of Michigan notes:

Sub-chronic toxicity and genotoxicity studies confirm that PVA is safe for humans when exposed via numerous exposure pathways in typical daily exposure"

So, like, don’t do a Gen Z and eat the Tide Pod — the PVA coating may be safe, but often what’s inside is less so. That said, there have been studies that have found a bioaccumulation of PVA in human breastmilk. Again, though, I want to reiterate that fact doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll lead to poor outcomes. We simply don’t know yet, and that’s the truly scary part.

Is PVA a carcinogen?

There’s a persistent myth going around that PVA is a carcinogen. First and foremost: PVA is not a known carcinogen.

That said, many paint and glue products that contain PVA as an adhesive agent may also contain other chemicals that are carcinogens. This may be where the concerns arise from.

Should you avoid PVA products?

In general, I think there’s an argument both for and against using PVA products. On the one hand, PVA is generally considered to be a safe product. On the other hand, we have no real understanding of what sorts of outcomes the bioaccumulation of PVA in humans and the wider environment may cause.

To my mind, I think it’s best to avoid PVA products simply because it won’t cause you undue hardship to make the swap. Instead of laundry sheets, try using laundry powder instead. Similar price and similar outcome.

When we know better, we can do better. I think knowing PVA is a plastic with many uncertain outcomes and few truly necessary applications, we can happily make swaps to avoid it.

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