I had been making products out of acrylic plastic in Design Tech lessons in high school and everytime I cut (or do anything to) it i could smell an unpleasant fume. Is it toxic? I had intake a lot of it. What will happen to me?
2007-12-06 16:50:02 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Cancer
Yes - the fumes coming out of plastics is bad for health and it may affect respiratory system and is is one of the cause for getting Lung Cancer. It is better to avoid or use a proper oxygen mask.
Plastics are durable and degrade very slowly. In some cases, burning plastic can release toxic fumes. Also, the manufacturing of plastics often creates large quantities of chemical pollutants. #3 - PVC (polyvinyl chloride), commonly used to package foods and liquids, ubiquitous in children's toys and teethers, plumbing and building materials, and in everything from cosmetics to shower curtains, contains numerous toxic chemicals called adipates and phthalates ("plasticizers"), which are used to soften brittle PVC into a more flexible form. Traces of these chemicals can leach out of PVC when it comes into contact with food.
The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has recognized the chemical used to make PVC - vinyl chloride - as a known human carcinogen.-
2007-12-07 00:18:50 · answer #1 · answered by Jayaraman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Is Acrylic Plastic Toxic
2017-01-11 18:19:51 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Epoxies and other thermoset (non-melting) plastics give off much less fumes. Thermoplastics (melting) use toxic liquid plasticizers to help them melt easier and give off lots of fumes as these plasticizers vaporize. PVC, polycarbonate and probably polystyrene are the most dangerous thermoplastics. Polypropylene and HDPE are safer but still quite bad. Dunno where acrylic stands. I'm sure thermosets still give off some fumes and aren't totally safe. In any case you can get an organic vapors mask, such as those used for HVLP automotive spray painting, to protect yourself from cancer and so on. It really is a huge quantity of plasticizer fumes and quite dangerous. If this is more than a one time quick dealy I'd strongly recommend a mask.
2016-05-21 23:19:32 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋