Influence of the Nature of the Liquid on the Migration of Plasticizer, Plasticized PVC

The addition of plasticizers to the polymers having strong polar forces which tend to become brittle, fillers, lubricants and other additives, to impart the plastic with excellent mechanical properties and stability. Such a range of packaging material possibilities and the excellent cost / performance ratio sufficient to explain the interest in plastics and the prodigious development of production and use thereof in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, chemical, food, and medical-surgical applications where there is a permanent solid-liquid or solid-solid contact. However, some of these additives are able to migrate from packaging into stored products thanks in part to their small size: this is the case of di-octyl phthalate (DOP) as a plasticizer for vinyl chloride (PVC). where there occurs the phenomenon of migration of plastic additives to the stored product and consequently the PVC loses its plasticity and mechanical properties for which it was selected. The study of plasticizer migration mechanism is therefore of considerable scientific and industrial interest due to environmental contamination in the case of polymers used for storage or transportation of liquid food, drugs or cosmetics. For this, a significant number of recommendations from governments defines approved plasticizers and are based on their toxicity, taking into account the risk of contamination of the stored food.