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Blue Vinyl: The World's First Toxic Comedy (2002)

by Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand
January 1st, 2002

Blue Vinyl is a 2002 documentary film directed by Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand. With a lighthearted tone, the film follows one woman's quest for an environmentally sound cladding for her parents' house in Merrick, Long Island, New York. It also investigates the many negative health effects of polyvinyl chloride its production, use and disposal, focusing on the communities of Lake Charles and Mossville, Louisiana, and Venice, Italy. Filming for Blue Vinyl began in 1994.

Blue Vinyl teamed up with Working Films to create the My House is Your House Campaign to turn the film into an organizing tool by increasing deliberate consumer advocacy and influencing industry change.

The film received scrutiny when the DVD was released with portions missing from the original broadcast. Lori Sanzone, a woman diagnosed with angiosarcoma of liver (ASL), a type of cancer associated with vinyl exposure, had her diagnosis changed to a different disease. Also, after an out-of-court settlement, an Italian court ended a lawsuit talked about in Blue Vinyl.





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