07/01/14
Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated as PVC is a widely used thermoplastic polymer. It is one of the most valuable products of the chemical industry. Around the world, over 50% of all manufactured PVC is used in construction. As a building material PVC is cheap, durable, and easy to assemble. Polyvinyl chloride is used in a variety of applications. As a hard plastic, it is used as vinyl siding, magnetic stripe cards, window profiles, gramophone records (which is the source of the term vinyl records), pipe, plumbing and conduit fixtures. It can be made softer and more flexible by the addition of plasticizers, the most widely-used being phthalates. In this form it is used in clothing and upholstery and to make flexible hoses and tubing, flooring, to roofing membranes, and electrical cable insulation.