Green plasticizers

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The idea for this application started last year when a representative of Canadian General Tower Ltd. approached us about our research with plasticizer degradation. They are particularly interested in the development of safer plasticizers to be added to polyvinylchloride formulations (PVC) which they use in many applications. Plasticizers are low molecular weight organic compounds that are essential for effective processing and tailoring of properties in plastics. It has been well established that these compounds leach from plastics during use and upon disposal. Significant concerns about the use of these compounds have been raised recently because of their negative impacts on organisms. Furthermore, these compounds are degraded into toxic metabolites, which are persistent in the environment and we have observed several of them in samples taken from a variety of urban and industrial sites. These results foreshadow increases in the regulation of the use of traditional plasticizers. Such developments will be particularly problematic given the large-scale importance of plasticizers in the production of a wide variety of products. We propose to develop "green" plasticizers that would impart all of the desirable characteristics as effectively and economically as do conventional plasticizers in plastics formulations, but would be intrinsically non-toxic, incapable of generating toxic and persistent intermediates during degradation and would not leach out to a significant extent during use or after disposal. We have identified certain organic compounds that are similar in structure to commercially available plasticizers but which certain chemical characteristics that play a pivotal role in the production of hazardous degradation products. In collaboration with our industrial partner, Canadian General-Tower candidate plasticizers will be synthesized, if necessary, tested and characterized to ensure that they are compatible with normal formulations and impart the desired material properties, are themselves environmentally benign and are transformed by common microorganisms and mammalian cells into non-toxic products.