Protecting the Health and Safety of all Californians

Victories

• Court of Appeals Rules in Our Favor that Safety Tests are Mandatory. In December 2004, the Court of Appeals affirmed that new plastic building materials must be tested for potential health and safety risks before the state can approve them. The court in the case Plastic Pipe and Fittings Association v. California Building Standards Commission, declared that potential health, safety and environmental impacts of proposed plumbing materials such as cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) piping must undergo review by the state prior to their inclusion in the California Plumbing Code. Click here to read more.
• Protecting California Homeowners. As a result of the Council's demand for health and safety review of polybutylene (PB) plastic pipe, homeowners in California were largely spared the widespread and catastrophic failures of the pipe that led to over a billion dollars of damages across the country.
• Protecting Worker Safety. The Council's demand for health and safety review of Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) pipe resulted in the state imposing measures to reduce worker exposure to toxic solvents during the installation of CPVC pipe.
• Protecting Clean Water. The Council's demand for health and safety review of CPVC also revealed a potential problem with leaching of chloroform and other dangerous chemicals into drinking water. As a result of these findings, manufacturers reformulated their product to eliminate chloroform and the state imposed strict flushing regiments to reduce the potential impact from other dangerous leachates.