This is an interesting article about how Microsoft is changing it’s packaging due to threats from an environmentalist group called the “Center for Health, Environment and Justice”.

CHEJ says that “When produced or burned, PVC plastic releases dioxins, the most potent synthetic chemicals ever tested, which can cause cancer and harm the immune and reproductive systems. Studies have shown plasticizers such as phthalates have migrated out of PVC consumer products, exposing people to toxic additives linked to reproductive defects and other health problems.”

And on the flipside…

Despite more than 40 years of use in medical equipment such as IV bags and medical tubing, there have been no reports of such phthalate use causing human health effects, according to a 2002 report by the Food and Drug Administration.

He also sarcastically references the “unsafe” levels of dioxin in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.