Combustion of PVC: Summary of Main Lecture'

Although polyvinyl chloride) is resistant to ignition due to its chemical structure and its mode of decomposition, it will undergo thermal degradation under high thermal or fire exposure. While considerable literature exists on the mechanism of decomposition of PVC, more recent analytical studies have focused on the forced combustion of PVC and the toxicity of those combustion products. Our analytical studies have involved the analysis of combustion products from rigid PVC, flexible PVC, modified flexible PVC, and PVC-wood mixtures. While analytical studies like this cannot predict biological response, they do demonstrate the nature of experimental problems and experimental design in biological testing.