SHOWER CURTAIN

The market for PPVC film and sheet is only slightly less than for wire and cable insulation. Uses are as diverse as seepage barriers, factory doors, inflatables, baby pants, car trim, covering materials for book bindings and document cases and shower curtains. UPVC film has also been widely used for packaging of food, particularly for shrink-wrap purposes, but this market has been subject to some substitution by polypropylene. 

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is one of the most widely used thermoplastics. It can be extruded into sheets and film and blow molded into bottles. It is used in many common items such as garden hoses, shower curtains, irrigation pipes, and paint formulations. 

Flexible PVC grades account for approximately 50% of PVC production. They go into such items as tablecloths, shower curtains, furniture, automobile upholstery, and wire and cable insulation. 

It also finds use in the manufacturing of film, sheet, and floor covering. The film and sheeting are used for making rainwear, handbag, shower curtains, food covers, etc. 

Flexible PVC resins and other dioctylphthalate-containing plastics and resins are used in a variety of industrial and domestic products plastisols for carpetback coating (EPA 1987b), film, wire, cables, and adhesives (HSDB 1995). Additional end-use products are automobile and furniture upholstery, wall coverings, window shades, garden hoses, shower curtains, tablecloths, rainwear, shoes, dolls, and toys (Mannsville Chemical Products Corporation 1989). 

Waldo Semon was responsible for bringing many of the PVC products to market. As a young scientist at BF Goodrich, he worked on ways to synthesize rubber and to bind the rubber to metal. In his spare time, he discovered that PVC, when mixed with certain liquids, gave an elastic-like, pliable material that was rainproof, fire resistant, and did not conduct electricity. Under the trade name Koroseal, the rubbery material came into the marketplace, beginning around 1926, as shower curtains, raincoats, and umbrellas. During World War II, PVC became the material of choice to protest electrical wires for the Air Force and Navy. Another of his inventions was the SR patented under the name Ameripol that was dubbed liberty rubber since it replaced NR in the production of tires, gas masks, and other military equipment. Ameripol was a butadiene-type material. 

When you move into your first apartment, you will probably find that there are several things you used at home that you now will need to buy for yourself. In the kitchen, you will need silverware, dishes, dish towels, pot holders, pots, pans, and other cooking utensils. You will need towels, a shower curtain, a bath mat, and toiletries in your bathroom. If you plan to clean your apartment once in a while, you ll also need cleaning supplies and ec uipment specific to each room. In the bedroom, you aregoing to need sheets, blankets, and pillows. You will probably want to have a television set or stereo as well as furniture in your living room. 

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate is widely used as a plasticizer in flexible vinyl products. Plastics may contain from 1 to 40% di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate by weight and are used in consumer products such as imitation leather, rainwear, footwear, upholstery, flooring, wire and cable, tablecloths, shower curtains, food packaging materials and children s... 

Another important addition polymer is polyvinylchloride (PVC), which is tough and easily molded. Floor tiles, shower curtains, and pipes are most often made of PVC, shown in Figure 12.30. The addition polymer polyvinylidene chloride (trade name Saran), shown in Figure 12.31, is used as plastic wrap for food. The large chlorine atoms in this polymer help it stick to surfaces such as glass by dipole—induced dipole attractions, as we saw in Section 7.1. 

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) had been developed by a number of chemical companies in the 1920s. The problem with this material, however, was that it lost resiliency when heated. In 1929, Waldo Semon, a chemist at BFGoodrich, found that PVC could be made into a workable material by the addition of a plasticizer. Semon got the idea of using plasticized PVC as a shower curtain when he observed his wife sewing together a shower curtain made of rubberized cotton. 

Biocides. Although PVC itself and rigid PVC compounds are resistant lo attack by microorganisms, plasticized PVC, in specific applications such as flashing and sealing boots on roofs, shower curtains, and swimming pools, may need protection. Many biocides, often containing arsenic compounds, are available for a balance of stability, compatibility, weatherability, and biocidal effectiveness. 

I headed to the shower to calm my nerves. Fat chance. The bathroom was like a House of Horrors. Can Soft Scrub residue get in your system via your feet What about the black mold dancing across our (plastic ) shower curtain And the roach bait behind the toilet The cat litter winked at me I recoiled. I brushed my teeth and almost cracked—was fluoride bad And what about my deodorant (aluminum), hydrocortisone cream (steroids), and just about every shampoo, lotion, and perfume on my shelf (all made with chemicals that have the potential to harm growing babies) Even my pedicure made me nervous, but I didn t dare risk acetone fumes to remove the poisonous polish. 

Test your water for contaminants, then purchase the appropriate antidote. Install a showerhead filter as well this will reduce your exposure to chlorine, among other chemicals found in municipal water. (While in the bathroom, get rid of that vinyl shower curtain it isn t a plastic you want around your growing baby. It s a known carcinogen—which contains phthalates—petroleum derivatives that... 

We have seen the effect of changing the diameter of a pipe on the speed of the fluid flowing through the pipe. It turns out that as the speed of a fluid increases, the pressure exerted by the fluid decreases. This phenomenon is called the Bernoulli Effect. The Bernoulli effect provides the lift for airplanes and is why shower curtains get sucked towards you when you first turn on the shower. It also provides the basis for a Venturi flowmeter. 

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