I found an old GQ thread here that never went anywhere and a DU thread here that is longer but has about the same conclusions.
The reason I am revisiting this is that while many of the explanations are reasonable they don’t seem to account for personal observations.
Out-gassing and volatiles evaporating made sense to me for the strong overpowering oder in the aisle at the fleet supply store where the rubber products and plastic bins are shelved. However it doesn’t seem to me that those products should still be doing that going on 5 years later in my home. I have plastic tote bins that have been around for 5 years and smell every bit as nasty as the day I brought them home. Even the couple that have never had a lid on. Perhaps the intensity of the smell has diminished some, but not as significantly as I would expect if it was solely due to out-gassing and volatiles.
I have noticed the same phenomena with rubber products. I have a set of made in the USA mud flaps that have almost no detectable oder. I have another set of made in China (essentially identical) mud flaps that are a couple years newer (now 3 years old) that stink something awful still if you get within about 6 inches.
The smell is so strong and so unique (especially with rubber products) it has me wondering if there is some major processing or material difference between the way China makes rubber products and the way Western countries do.
Anyone have any process or manufacturing insight into this?
Is there an environmental or respiratory concern?
Am I just being xenophobic?
My first thought is phthalates, which are commonly added to hard plastic to make it soft and flexible (mainly PVC, commonly used to make artificial rubber, phthalates are being phased out in the U.S. and Europe due to health concerns but China likely doesn’t have any rules on them). And they can and do persist for long periods of time, since if they completely outgass, the plastic becomes hard and brittle (as a personal anecdote, I have opened up 30+ year old electronics and the wires really stink, yet are otherwise in good condition, so phthalates must have a very strong odor). Although I have seen other plastics, including hard plastics (i.e. not soft and rubbery) that have similar peculiar smells that don’t go away (I looked at one, it’s made of polypropylene, which shouldn’t smell or have chemicals added to it).
Thanks. That of course stokes my fears more. I’m sure it is too much to hope we aren’t so beholden to the almighty dollar that we are importing products that would violate health regulations if manufactured here.
The nastiest smell, at least to me, seems to be from genuine black rubber products. Stoppers, mats, gaskets, plungers, etc.
Plastics and black rubber are often hardened with sulfur or sulfur compounds (which encourage crosslinking). They can outgas mercaptans for years after that.
We have a black plunger that we now keep shoved in the cabinet under the bathroom sink. Leaving it exposed in the enclosed bathroom makes the whole room reek. It’s more subdued after a few months and dunkings, but is still there.
Thanks, I was kind of wondering if it was sulfeur or a sulfur compound. I vaguely recall reading about it being used (back in the day?) as part of the vulcanizing process.
So my follow up question is why didn’t these items smell so horrible when they were recently made in west. I have a rubber mallet from about 15 years ago that was “made in the USA”. It had a smell, but never an over powering odor. The Chinese made ones in the hardware store today are incredibly strong smelling.
Similar experience as nion with a plunger. Ended up tossing the $3 one in the trash and getting a made in the USA Unisan plunger. Was 4 or 5 times the price, but worth it to be rid of the smell.
Based on the plunger and mallet experience, is China just using an older process? Or an entirely different process that was never used in the US?
Well, there are a number of factors. For one thing, I suspect that American companies are more likely to work to prevent the odor; it’s been known since the '30s, for instance, that zinc carbonate reduces the odor from sulfur-based accelerators. It’s also rumored that Chinese rubber manufacturers dispose of waste by dumping it in before vulcanization.
In general, though, the smell does seem to dissipate if the object is allowed to aerate, yet the product doesn’t seem to become any more brittle.
If you want to talk brittle, try the new lids on plastic jars, like those used for mayonnaise or peanut butter. You drop the jars, they always land on the corner of the lid and they always shatter. I always assumed it was just them cutting costs, but if it’s environmental regulations, I think I might make a bit of an exception for those. Or at least force manufacturers to make plastic jars bottom heavy.
