Polymer failure induced by air pollutants

An overview is given on an outdoor experiment whereby polyvinylchloride, polyurethane, polyester and alkyd resin based polymers are exposed over a period of 5 years to NO sub x, SO sub 2, O sub 3 in special chambers at elevated concentrations for accelerated degradation. The damage history of the first year is presented obtained by mechanical, morphological and chemical analysis on periodically removed samples. The preliminary results are discussed.