Indoor plasticizers

Low-molecular mass carbonyls are among the most abundant and ubiquitous volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. They are produced from industrial activity and incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass. Many aldehydes are also emitted indoors (plastic, foam insulation, lacquers, etc.). As a source of free radicals, aldehydes play an important role in the ozone formation, in urban smog events, as well as in the photochemistry of the unpolluted troposphere. Aldehydes are recognized irritants of the eye and respiratory tract, and often, carcinogenic and mutagenic characteristics are also attributed to them. 

IMPACT OF PLASTICIZERS IN THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENT 17.5.4.1 Indoor Plasticizers and Health... 

Filling and Emptying Small Nonconductive Containers Subject to capacity limitations described in 5-8.4 it is common to handle flammable liquids in small glass or plastic containers. The following should be considered for frequent indoor liquid transfers of about 0.5 L (approxi-... 

In most cases thermoplastic components are designed for use at room temperature. It might appear, therefore, that data on the impact properties at this temperature (approximately 20°C) would provide sufficient information for design. However, this approach would be rather naive since even indoors, temperatures may vary by an amount which can have a significant effect on impact behaviour. For components used outdoors of course, the situation can be much worse with conditions varying from sub-zero to tropical. In common with metals, many plastics exhibit a transition from ductile behaviour to brittle as the temperature is reduced. 

Occupational and environmental exposure to chemicals can take place both indoors and outdoors. Occupational exposure is caused by the chemicals that are used and produced indoors in industrial plants, whereas nonoccupa-tional (and occupational nonindustrial) indoor exposure is mainly caused by products. Toluene in printing plants and styrene in the reinforced plastic industry are typical examples of the two types of industrial occupational exposures. Products containing styrene polymers may release the styrene monomer into indoor air in the nonindustrial environment for a long time. Formaldehyde is another typical indoor pollutant. The source of formaldehyde is the resins used in the production process. During accidents, occupational and environmental exposures may occur simultaneously. Years ago, dioxin was formed as a byproduct of production of phenoxy acid herbicides. An explosion in a factory in... 

D4459-99 Practice for Xenon-Arc Exposure of Plastics Intended for Indoor Applications, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 08.02 Plastics(II), ASTM International, West Conshohoken, 2006. 

Camarasa and Serra-Baldrich [94] reported allergic contact dermatitis after repeated contact with TPP-treated plastics. Meeker and Stapleton [95] indicated endocrine disruptive properties for TPP and TDCiPP, through a negative correlation with semen quality and thyroid hormone levels, respectively. Kanazawa et al. [71] associated mucosal symptoms of the sick building syndrome with high indoor exposure to TBP. These symptoms include irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat symptoms such as flushing, and mucosal symptoms such as irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat the latter symptoms were strongly associated with TBP levels in air and dust. 

The extensive use of phthalates as plasticizers in various materials (furniture, plastics, electronics equipment, textiles, etc.) has led to the widespread and substantial contamination of the indoor environment, e.g., air and dust [3, 96, 97]. Indoor environment and dietary intake are of special concern for the increasing... 

To evaluate human exposure to phthalates and their substitutes, the main approaches investigate either the levels of chemicals in matrices relevant for human exposure (indoor air, dust, food and packages, etc.) or the levels of parent and metabolite compounds in human samples (serum, urine, or breast milk). An overview of phthalate and nonphthalate plasticizers together with their metabolites commonly reported in literature is presented in Table 5. The half-lives for the most of these compounds are already established and therefore, by evaluating the levels of their metabolites in human urine, the levels of their parent compounds may be... 

Considering the migration possibilities of such chemicals from their original products, complex studies were performed for classical plasticizers such as DEHP or DBP to evaluate the relevance of each pathway to human exposure assessments. Therefore, the total exposure of adults of such plasticizers was evaluated by quantifying the target substances in duplicate diet portions (collected daily over 7 consecutive days), and also by measuring indoor air and dust concentrations [129]. The results indicate that dietary exposure is the dominant... 

Garcia M, Rodriguez I, Cela R (2007) Microwave-assisted extraction of organophosphate flame retardants and plasticizers from indoor dust samples. J Chromatogr A 1152 280-286... 

Carlsson H, Nilsson U, Becker G, Ostman C (1997) Organophosphate ester flame retardants and plasticizers in the indoor environment analytical methodology and occurrence. Environ Sci Technol 31 2931-2396... 

Maridund A, Andersson B, Haglund P (2005) Organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizers in air from various indoor environments. J Environ Monit 7 814-819... 

Hartmann PC, Biirgi D, Giger W (2004) Organophosphate flame retardants and plasticizers in indoor air. Chemosphere 57 781-787... 

Because of volatilization and leaching from their application in consumer and personal care products, phthalate esters are ubiquitous contaminants in indoor environment, and the levels found in dust from homes in different countries (Table 2), showed that the less volatile phthalates such as DEHP and BBP, are the predominant in dust samples [11,16, 74], and that the percentage of both carpet and plastic materials (furniture, decoration, and home electronics) could be associated with higher concentrations of BBP and DEHP in house dust [12, 74, 75]. The proportion of DiNP in house dust from Germany in 2009 [12], indicates that the... 

Injection molding (containers, lids, bottles, toys, plastic chairs, luggage, steering wheels, battery cases, fan shrouds, air cleaner ducts), 31% fibers and filament (carpet backing, indoor-outdoor carpeting, rope), 30% resellers, distributors, and compounders, 23% film and sheet, 11% blow molding, 2% miscellaneous, 3%... 

PP is now used in indoor or outdoor carpets. However, the first PP products deteriorated rapidly when subjected to sunlight because of the presence of tertiary hydrogen atoms present. Explain. Which is more resistant to attack by microorganisms (a) PVC or (b) plasticized PVC ... 

In the absence of such sources of NO, indoor and outdoor concentrations are quite similar (e.g., Weschler et al., 1994), since removal of NO and N02 indoors, e.g., on surfaces, is relatively slow. However, as discussed shortly, although the surface reaction of N02 is relatively slow, it is still of interest since it generates nitrous acid (HONO). Different surfaces found inside homes have been found to have different removal rates for N02. Figure 15.4, for example, shows measured rates of removal of N02 by a number of common household materials (Spicer et al., 1989). Large variations in removal rate (and hence the formation of products such as NO and HONO see later) are evident, varying from negligible for plastic storm windows to quite large for wallboard. 

There is a paucity of data concerning concentrations of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate concentrations in indoor air, although its volatilization from plastic products has been noted (Warns, 1987 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1993). 

When a polymer film is used as a substrate, aqueous Ti02 paste without organic surfactants is sintered at relatively low temperatures, with approximately 150°C being sufficient to produce mechanically stable 2 films. Sommeling et al. at ECN used an ITO-coated polyethylene terephthalate) (PET) film as a substrate and prepared a plastic DSSC [164-167]. A cell performance with a 7 of 15 pA/cm2, Voc of 0.48 V, and ff of 0.67 was obtained at an illumination intensity of 250 lux. This performance is sufficient for a power supply for indoor applications such as watches and calculators. Under AM 1.5 irradiation, a Vtx of 0.7 V and /sc of 2 mA/cm2 were obtained. 

Bergman A, Oestman C, Nybom R, et al. 1997. Flame retardants and plasticizers on particulates in the modem computerized indoor environment. Organohalogen Compounds 1987 414-419. 

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