Survey analysis of volatile organics released from plastics under thermal stress

Irritating or toxic vapors can be produced from plastic process materials by a variety of operations, such as injection molding, hot wire cutting, bandsawing and milling. These components typically are not reported in the combustion toxicology literature for the materials used, but rather represent the volatilization of plasticizers, unreacted monomer, mold-release agents or other additives, or lubricants. A method for the characterization of the complex mixtures that can result from thermal stressing of plastic and of relating quantitatively to process temperatures and amounts of plastic used is presented. The method utilizes both Thermo-Gravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic headspace GC/MS with on-column cryogenic focusing. Application to actual occupational situations is illustrated with three examples.