Vinyl chloride is removed from aqueous slurries prepared by the suspension polymerization of a monomer component that comprises vinyl chloride by heating the slurries at a temperature between 70.degree. C. and the boiling point of water at a pressure in the range of 30 mm Hg absolute to 3 atmospheres and removing the evolved vinyl chloride until the aqueous slurry contains less than 50 ppm and preferably less than 0.1 ppm of vinyl chloride, based on the weight of polymer in the slurry. The polymers that are recovered from the purified aqueous slurries contain less than 10 ppm, and in most cases less than 0.1 ppm of vinyl chloride.