Identifying the compounds released during thermal degradation of plastics

INRS has conducted a study with the aim of developing a diagnostic tool for exposure to chemical risks in the field of thermal degradation of plastics materials. An analytical protocol has been developed in the laboratory. Various sampling campaigns in plastics processing workshops have made it possible to assess and to validate this protocol by comparison between the products sampled in emissions in those workshops and the products identified in the laboratory. Thus, the thermal degradation products from the 23 thermoplastic polymers that are in most widespread use in France were determined using that protocol. All of the knowledge from this study will be available and will be disseminated via a database consultable on www.inrs.fr.