Why Environmental and Consumer Groups, Firefighters and the California State Pipe Trades Council Oppose PEX

• Studies have shown that PEX pipes leach potentially cancer-causing chemicals such as MTBE and tert-Butyl alcohol into drinking water in amounts that exceed taste, odor and health guidelines set by the State of California.
• Pesticides, termiticides, benzene, gasoline byproducts and other toxic chemicals can also permeate PEX pipes and contaminate drinking water.

• PEX pipes may increase risk of fire hazard by causing fires to spread more quickly. Once ignited, PEX materials produce toxic smoke.
• PEX pipes have also been found to be more likely to spread Legionella bacteria, which can cause severe pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.

• PEX pipes can prematurely degrade and rupture from exposure to numerous everyday materials and environmental conditions, including sunlight, high temperatures, chlorine, petroleum products, and asphalt. Such ruptures tend to be catastrophic rather than pinhole leaks, resulting in costly damage to consumers.

• A report by the City of San Francisco Department of Environment found that PEX is the only plastic pipe that no plastic recycler will accept.

Schwarzenegger: Defying the Law, Placing Californians at Risk

In November 2004 the California Court of Appeal ruled PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) pipe and other building products must be tested for health and safety before the Schwarzenegger administration can approve their widespread use. Our coalition has made a simple request of the Governor and his staff: Obey the law by testing the health and safety of PEX before allowing it in our homes, schools and office buildings.

Large homebuilding companies and development interests, who have given millions of dollars to Governor Schwarzenegger, along with PEX manufacturers, have lobbied the Administration to force PEX onto the market without the protection of health and safety studies.

So far, it's working. First, the Schwarzenegger administration made the unusual request of the California Supreme Court to de-publish the California Court of Appeals decision that ruled that PEX should be environmentally tested. When the Supreme Court did not act on this request, the Administration simply ignored the law. Now the administration is continuing to ignore the law and place Californians at risk by holding hearings to force PEX into the market before we know it's safe.

California has a proud record of avoiding public health disasters faced by other states that did not invest in environmental testing before approving new products. For example, California saved millions of dollars by keeping polybutylene (PB) plastic pipe from widespread use here. Elsewhere across the country, homeowners experienced catastrophic failures with these pipes, which led to over a billion dollars in damages.

Read more about California's past mistakes with hazardous materials that manufacturers claimed were safe.