PVC Stabilizers of the past,present, and future

When chemical additives were found that could minimize the loss of chemical and physical properties of a thermally-processable but heat-sensitive polymer called poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), an industry was born. And with it grew the world of plastics additives. Stabilizers for PVC became and industry itself, feeding into and off of this versatile polymer industry, in an almost symbiotic relationship. There have been so many types of stabilizers in use throughout the past fifty years: inorganics, leads, organics, barium/cadmiums, calcium/zincs, organotins, and antimony. And so very many more have been conceived but not commercialized: organoleads, organoantimonys, bismuths, indiums, and a myriad of organic chemicals. What are the merits and deficiencies of these stabilizers? What of yesterday's products are still with us? What are the newer types? What might be tomorrow's products? This paper will attempt to review and discuss the past, present, and future of PVC stabilizers; the factors that are responsible for their variety, for influencing their research, development, and commercialization, and how these factors change with time.