Phthalates in Pool Liners
May 10, 2016 by Debra Lynn Dadd
I used to have a above-ground pool, with a soft vinyl liner. At the time I wondered if any toxic chemicals were being released from it. When I asked the manufacturer of the liner I was assured it was perfectly safe.
Today I came across a study about the migration of plasticizers used to make soft PVC (phthalates) into water.
It’s a study regarding pond liners, but that’s close enough to a pool liner.
These numbers show that the greatest migration of plasticizer occurs in the first five years. A pool liner that has been in use for more than 5 years would be much less toxic.
But here it is…evidence that vinyl pool liners and little plastic pools kids play in are releasing phthalates into the water, which in turn gets into our bodies via absorption through the skin.
These are archives of Q&A asked by readers and answered by Debra Lynn Dadd (from 2005-2019) or Lisa Powers (from 2019-2020). Answers have been edited and updated as of December, 2020.