Rubber manufacture: sampling and identification of volatile pollutants

Volatile pollutants produced from several rubber goods manufacturing processes were sampled and analyzed. Samples were collected in the vulcanization areas of a shoe-sole factory, a tire retreading operation, and also in the extrusion areas of the retreading operation and an insulated cable manufacturer. Volatile organics from the vulcanization and extrusion operations were collected on activated charcoal, desorbed with trichlorofluoromethane and analyzed by GC/MS. Approximately 100 different compounds were identified and quantitated; their cumulative concentrations ranged from 25 to 27000 micrograms/cubic meter.