Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information,
including suggestion for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington,
VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503.
1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank)
2. REPORT DATE
3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED
March 1995
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5. FUNDING NUMBERS
Additional Studies on the Softening of Rigid PVC by Aqueous Solutions
of Organic Solvents
6. AUTHORS
Louise V. Parker and Thomas A. Ranney
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
REPORT NUMBER
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
72 Lyme Road
Special Report 95-8
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSORING/MONITORING
AGENCY REPORT NUMBER
U.S. Army Environmental Center
SFIM-AEC-ET-CR-95-006
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161
13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)
This study examined whether an aqueous solution that contained 18 organic chemicals that are either solvents or
good swelling agents of PVC are able to cause softening when combined in a solution, with each solute at an
activity of 0.05. This activity was selected because there is no evidence that an individual organic solute with an
activity of 0.05 can soften PVC. However, we found that this combined test solution rapidly softened PVC. We also
examined whether organic chemicals that are either solvents or good softening agents of PVC and are also totally
miscible in water are able to soften PVC when mixed with water. Four chemicals (tetrahydrofuran, acetone,
dimethylformamide and pyridine) were tested in a study that ran for 20 weeks. Tetrahydrofuran, a PVC solvent,
caused a significant change in the hardness readings of samples exposed to concentrations as low as 0.01% (w/
v). Acetone, a good swelling agent of PVC, caused a significant change in the hardness readings of samples
exposed to a 10% concentration but not a 5% concentration. Dimethylformamide, a poorer swelling agent of PVC,
did not cause any measurable signs of softening at concentrations below 60%. The lowest concentration of
pyridine tested (20%) was found to have a significant effect on the hardness readings. A preliminary short-term
study (seven days) showed that n-butylamine was intermediate between pyridine and dimethylformamide in its
ability to soften PVC.
14. SUBJECT TERMS
15. NUMBER OF PAGES
22
Organic solvents
PVC
16. PRICE CODE
Polyvinylchloride
Solvents
17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT
OF REPORT
OF THIS PAGE
OF ABSTRACT
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UL
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89)
NSN 7540-01-280-5500
Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18
298-102
Previous Page
