Vinyl chloride is a colorless gas with the chemical formula C₂H₃Cl, consisting of two carbon atoms connected by a double bond, with one hydrogen replaced by chlorine. First produced in 1835 by French chemist Henri Victor Regnault and later industrialized in the 1930s, this sweet-smelling compound serves as the fundamental building block for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the world’s third-most produced plastic. Despite its pleasant ethereal odor, vinyl chloride is a confirmed human carcinogen, with workers in early PVC plants developing rare liver cancers that led to strict exposure limits and revolutionized industrial health standards. Today, over 40 million tons of vinyl chloride are manufactured annually through a careful balance of chemistry and safety, transforming this dangerous gas into everything from water pipes to credit cards while maintaining some of the chemical industry’s most rigorous containment protocols.

Find a review of the 50 most important industrial gases here.

20 Fun Facts About Vinyl Chloride

Beyond the basics above, what else should we know about Vinyl Chloride? Check out the 20 fun facts below!

1. Vinyl chloride was used as an aerosol propellant and even an anesthetic in the 1960s before its cancer risk was discovered.
2. The molecule is planar with the C=C-Cl angle at 123.8°, creating a dipole that makes it slightly soluble in water.
3. The gas liquefies at -13.4°C (7.9°F), often shipped as a refrigerated liquid that violently boils if warmed.
4. Workers called it “the sweet death” because its pleasant smell at 3,000 ppm masked lethal exposure levels.
5. Vinyl chloride polymerizes explosively above 70°C or in sunlight, requiring phenol inhibitors during storage and transport.
6. The compound forms explosive peroxides with air at just 20°C, making old cylinders potential bombs.
7. B.F. Goodrich plant workers in the 1970s developed hand skeleton X-rays showing bone dissolution from vinyl chloride exposure.
8. The gas is 2.15 times heavier than air, creating invisible toxic pools that killed workers in tank cleaning accidents.
9. PVC production consumes 98% of vinyl chloride made, with 1 kg of monomer yielding 0.97 kg of plastic.
10. Train derailments involving vinyl chloride require 1-mile evacuations due to potential “BLEVE” explosions creating toxic fireballs.
11. The molecule vibrates at 1,610 cm⁻¹ (C=C stretch) allowing infrared cameras to detect leaks at 1 ppm.
12. Cigarettes contain 5-30 nanograms of vinyl chloride from plastic filters heating during smoking.
13. The “vinyl chloride disease” causing Raynaud’s phenomenon and bone damage affected thousands before regulation.
14. Groundwater contamination persists for decades as vinyl chloride slowly forms from other chlorinated solvent breakdown.
15. The compound’s half-life in air is 2.5 days, breaking down to formaldehyde and HCl under UV light.
16. China produces 20 million tons annually using coal-based acetylene routes banned elsewhere for mercury pollution.
17. The gas burns with a greenish flame producing phosgene and hydrogen chloride, both deadly war gases.
18. Vinyl chloride’s double bond is 1.33 Angstroms long, shorter than ethylene‘s due to chlorine’s electron-withdrawing effect.
19. OSHA‘s limit dropped from 500 ppm in 1970 to 1 ppm in 1974 after liver angiosarcomas appeared in workers.
20. The East Palestine, Ohio train derailment in 2023 released 1 million pounds of vinyl chloride, requiring controlled burning to prevent catastrophic explosion.

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