AIM This study presents temporal trends of styrene exposure for workers in the European glass fibre-reinforced plastics (GRP) industry during the period 1966-2002. METHODS Data of personal styrene exposure measurements were retrieved from reports, databases and peer-reviewed papers. Only sources with descriptive statistics of personal measurements were accepted. The styrene exposure data cove...

Equipment and components made of plastics and composites are widely used in highly corrosive environments in the processing industry. Examples are the storage tanks, pumps and pipes for chemical transport and stacks in combustion plants. The demand for reliable nondestructive testing of plastic process equipment has increased significantly in recent years. Glass fiber reinforced plastics (GRP) ...

By 2010, the worldwide annual production of plastics will surpass 300 million tons. Plastics are indispensable materials in modern society, and many products manufactured from plastics are a boon to public health (e.g., disposable syringes, intravenous bags). However, plastics also pose health risks. Of principal concern are endocrine-disrupting properties, as triggered for example by bisphenol...

Azoisobutylnitrile (AIBN) initiator was used in the treatment of most widely used domestic plastics in lieu of catalysts. The pyrolysis of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), poly-ethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS) plastics with azoisobutylnitrile was carried out individually under nitrogen atmosphere. A series of single (plastic...

Plastic is a broad name given to different polymers with high molecular weight, which can be degraded by various processes. However, considering their abundance in the environment and their specificity in attacking plastics, biodegradation of plastics by microorganisms and enzymes seems to be the most effective process. When plastics are used as substrates for microorganisms, evaluation of thei...

A life cycle assessment was carried out to investigate the environmental benefits of removing dense plastics from household waste before burning the waste in an energy from waste (EfW) facility. Such a process was found to improve the climate change and non-renewable resource depletion impacts of the waste management system. A preliminary financial assessment suggests that the value of the plas...

Waste plastics are harmful, toxic, and non-biodegradable. Environmental impacts of waste plastics are raised concern about all over the world for safe and friendly environment. Due to dense population and environmental effects of the major city in the world dumping, incineration and land filling are faced difficulties and challenges. At this circumstances vast of waste plastics are remained vul...

Spherical void expansion in plastics and rubber-modified plastics is investigated under radial traction conditions. The plastics are modeled as elastic-plastic pressure-sensitive materials and the rubbers are modeled as nonlinearly elastic materials. First, the growth of a spherical void in an infinite plastic matrix is investigated under remote radial traction conditions. The results show that...

The majority of waste plastics currently produced are either landfilled or incinerated. Plastics do not readily degrade and toxic elements can be leached from the landfill. Combustion of waste plastics can generate environmentally hazardous air pollutants such as dioxins/furans, as well as undesirable carbon dioxide. Consequently, cost effective ways of recycling the increasing amounts of gener...

The growing significance of the material magnesium is closely associated with the progressive development in the field of automotive lightweight construction. The announcement of the VW AG of constructing an one-litre-automobile can be deemed to be a proof of the actuality of research and development in the field of magnesium alloy processing. That automobile, whose frame structure is widely ma...