VOLATILE EMISSIONS DURING THERMOPLASTICS PROCESSING - A REVIEW

Types and amounts of volatiles emitted during thermoplastics processin g depend upon the chemical structure of the material and the choice of processing conditions. The identification of volatiles and the develo pment of analytical techniques for measuring their concentration in th e workplace are of paramount importance to establish or revise thresho ld limit values that would minimize exposure to hazardous chemical sub stances and lead to corrective action. In this review, information rel ated to the types of volatiles emanating from injection molding machin es and extruders as well as analytical methods for their measurement w as collected, analyzed, and tabulated. Emphasis was placed on the four major commodity plastics, viz., polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) , polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS). Although the main em phasis is on emissions during processing, related literature under sim ulated conditions is also mentioned. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc .