Study and optimization of a soaking treatment to reduce migration from plasticized polyvinyl chloride

Commercial sunflower oil was epoxidized, and epoxidized sunflower oil (ESO) was used as a thermal stabilizer for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). This work describes a process capable to reduce the additives migration between plasticized PVC stabilized with ESO and food simulants. For that purpose, samples were first soaked in n-heptane and then dried. Soaking temperature and drying temperature with time were optimized by using the methodology of experiment plans. The optimal conditions found were applied to study the migration of additives in a fatty simulant (olive oil) at 40 degrees C. The test conditions were 12 days. Twelve circular samples of plasticized PVC were immersed in 120 mL of olive oil. A circular sample and 10 mL of food simulant were taken off every day to be analyzed. The rate of mass variation was followed. The specific migrations of the present additives were investigated by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectrometry and gas chromatography- mass spectrometry. The results showed that the studied process reduced considerably the additives migration. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012