Styrol

BeschreibungStyrene has a characteristic, sweet, balsamic, almost floral odor that is extremely penetrating. Styrene occurs naturally in plants. It was first isolated from a resin called storax obtained from the inner bark of the Oriental sweet gum tree (Liquidambar orientalis) by Bonastre. In 1839, the German apothecary Eduard Simon prepared styrene by distilling it from storax and called it styrol. Simon observed it solidifi ed into a rubbery substance after being stored and believed it had oxidized into styrol oxide. Subsequent analysis showed the solid did not contain oxygen and it was renamed metastyrol. This was the first written record of polymerization in chemistry. In 1845, the English chemist, John Blyth, and the German chemist, August Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818 1892), observed that styrene was converted to polystyrene by sunlight and that styrene could be polymerized to polystyrene by heating in the absence of oxygen. It took another 70 years for the polymerization of styrene to be described by Hermann Staudinger (1881 1965) in the 1920s. This laid the foundation for the commercial polystyrene industry that developed in the 1930s.

OccurrenceReported found in cranberry and bilberry, currants, grape, parsley, milk and dairy products, whiskey, cocoa, coffee, tea, roasted filberts and roasted peanuts. Also reported found in fresh apple, guava fruit, pineapple, vinegar, butter, fish oil, black tea, roasted filbert, roasted peanut, soybean, plum brandy, apple brandy, Brazil nut, rice bran, Bourbon vanilla, grapes, peach, strawberry, onion, peas, bell pepper, cassia leaf, cheeses, parsley, milk, boiled and scrambled egg, lean fish, fish oil, cooked chicken and beef, rum, malt and Scotch whiskey, cider, grape, wine, cocoa, coffee, honey, cloudberry, plum, rose apple, beans, trassi, walnut, buckwheat, soursop, watercress, kiwifruit, wild rice, sapodilla fruit, nectarine, okra, crab, crayfish and pawpaw.

VerwendenStyrene (monomer) is a viscous, highly flammable liquid that evaporates easily and polymerizes readily to polystyrene unless a stabilizer is added. Styrene is used in multiple industries, especially in reinforced plastics (e.g., fiberglass boats), and is widely used to make plastics and rubber, packaging materials (e.g., packing peanuts ), insulation for buildings, plastic pipes, food containers (e.g., takeout containers), and carpet backing) (ATSDR, 2010).