Cellulose nitrate film hazards

Chemically modified cellulose in the form of cellulose nitrate or nitrocellulose was made and tested for commercial applications in Britain in the 1855-1860 period without much success. The discovery by Hyatt, in 1863, that cellulose nitrate could be plasticized with camphor to give moldability to the blend, made this material much more useful. By 1870, celluloid (plasticized cellulose nitrate) was being produced into a variety of commercial products such as billiard balls, decorative boxes, and combs. Nitrocellulose was also soluble in organic solvents, unlike cellulose, and so could be applied to surfaces in solution to form a coating, as in airplane dopes and automobile lacquers. It could also be solution spun into fibers (synthetic silk) and formed into photographic film, or used as a laminating layer in early auto safety glass. It was also used as an explosive. The hazard introduced to many of these uses of nitrocellulose by its extremely flammable nature resulted in an interest to discover other cellulose derivatives that could still be easily formed, like nitrocellulose, but without its extreme fire hazard. 

Hazardous Decomp. Prods. Heated to decomp., emits toxic fumes of POx Uses Flame retardant, plasticizer for PVC, cellulose nitrate, CAB, ethyl cellulose, polymethyl methacrylate, PS, buna N rubber, in vinyl film and sheeting, textile coatings, plastisols, organosols, adhesives, pkg. materials plasticizer in food-contact coatings, dip, rotationally, extruded and inj. molded parts, mech. foam in food-pkg. adhesives in resinous/polymeric food-contact coatings Features Low-temp, plasticizer Regulatory FDA 21CFR 175.105, 175.300, 175.320, 181.27 Manuf./Distrib. Akzo Nobel http //www.akzonobel.com, Ashland http //www.ashchem.com, Bayer http //www.bayerus.com, Monsanto http //www.monsanto. com,... 

Then came several semisynthetic polymers, which were natural polymers modified in some way. One of the first to attain commercial importance was cellulose nitrate plasticized with camphor, popular around 1885 for stiff collars and cuffs as celluloid, later most notably used in Thomas Edison s motion picture film (11). Cellulose nitrates were also sold as lacquers, used to coat wooden staircases, and so on. The problem was the terrible fire hazard existing with the nitrates, which were later replaced by the acetates. 

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