Occupational and environmental health hazards in the plastics industry.

A brief description of the potential occupational health hazards encountered in the manufacture of plastics (polymers) is given. In general, these hazards are due to the monomers used to make the various plastics, to unreacted monomer contained within the finished products, and to the fillers, stabilizers, pigments, inhibitors, and initiators used in fabricating the finished products. They run the gamut from angiosarcomas of the liver due to vinyl chloride, to dermatitis and asthma-like reactions due to the initiators used with epoxy resins.