The odor associated with Chinese rubber and plastics
Does anybody know why Chinese rubber and plastic products reek like they do? I assume it's some component/chemical they use in the process.
And their "rubber" is so freakin' STIFF. Jacketed power cords so stiff you can't unbend them when you unpack a device, grommets that crack before you can manipulate them enough to get them in the hole, etc. etc.
I've taken to going to Deep Homo and buying 20 or 30 feet of genuine rubber-covered 3 wire cord in various gauges and just automatically replacing the power cord on most tools.
Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
January 04, 2020, 08:57 AM
kz1000
Lead?
------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Yidn, shreibt un fershreibt"
"The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind." -Bomber Harris
January 04, 2020, 09:23 AM
Rinehart
What what I understand it is partly the use of recycled automotive tires, as well as using supposedly less-harmful process ingredients.
This form of rubberized plastic utilizes benzene and other hydrocarbons such as ethylbenzene, xylene and toluene. Benzene is a known carcinogen. Benzene and other hydrocarbons can offgass from goods for years after manufacture.
Consumers can quite easily smell products made using recycled tire rubber, as they maintain a smell quite similar to worn tires.
Good question. I have an exercise station that smelled as Rinehart described for a long time. At first I covered the rubber parts with duct tape to contain it, but of course using it made that wear off in a few weeks. Seems like it doesn't stink like it used to, and my hope is that it isn't because I've gotten used to it.
January 04, 2020, 09:39 AM
jimmy123x
quote:
Originally posted by Rinehart: What what I understand it is partly the use of recycled automotive tires, as well as using supposedly less-harmful process ingredients.
This form of rubberized plastic utilizes benzene and other hydrocarbons such as ethylbenzene, xylene and toluene. Benzene is a known carcinogen. Benzene and other hydrocarbons can offgass from goods for years after manufacture.
Consumers can quite easily smell products made using recycled tire rubber, as they maintain a smell quite similar to worn tires.
This and who knows what other garbage is mixed into their recycled plastic and rubber they use. Chinese are known to use any crap they can get their hands on cheap, whether it's good for you or not, they don't care.
January 04, 2020, 11:29 AM
Steve Collins
In my radio control hobby most of what is available in airframes comes from China. I have never observed an objectionable odor from any of these. They have many plastic components on them and are also mostly molded from foam which is also a plastic.
January 04, 2020, 11:32 AM
Patrick-SP2022
Whenever I walk into a Harbor Freight store, it always smells like rubber. Not like a tire shop, more like junkyard used tires getting shredded.
January 04, 2020, 12:01 PM
bendable
quote:
And their "rubber" is so freakin' STIFF.
its all the rhino horn and elephant tusks
Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.
Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first
January 04, 2020, 12:16 PM
RaiseHal
The odor is from the tears of the prisoners making the products for their overlords to sell to us so they can afford to build more prisons for more workers.
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January 04, 2020, 12:47 PM
rat2306
Several years ago I bought a new shower curtain liner, made in China. I had to open up the windows and throw it away as the odor was overpowering to the point of making me feel as choking. A quick internet search pointed to the cheap plastic (polyvinyl chloride) and a number of potential containments I had to dig out my college Organic Chemistry textbook for. I spent five dollars more and got one with no problems.
January 04, 2020, 12:50 PM
220-9er
How do you think they get rid of all that toxic crap we send over there for recycling? Mix it into stuff they are sending back.
Originally posted by bendable:... its all the rhino horn and elephant tusks
Wasn't that a Strawberry Alarm Clock tune?
"the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" ✡ Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב!
January 04, 2020, 01:03 PM
corsair
quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul: Does anybody know why Chinese rubber and plastic products reek like they do? I assume it's some component/chemical they use in the process.
Low cost items will result in low cost materials used. Companies and the factories they contract with to manufacture their goods, are always looking to lower their costs. Some are ok with using sub-optimal materials with possible side affects that help lower the bottom line.
January 04, 2020, 02:07 PM
Ozarkwoods
I bought Yokohama tires for my Motorhome good tires however as stated by other buyers they have an awful smell for quite awhile. I describe the smell like cat piss. I thought it might be chemical they use during vulcanizing.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
January 04, 2020, 02:16 PM
Woodman
And who can forget the Chinese drywall issues . . . ?
Chinese Drywall refers to defective or tainted drywall imported from China from 2001 to 2007 which emits sulfur gasses which usually (but not always) creates a noxious odor and corrodes copper and other metal surfaces, thereby damaging your air conditioner, electrical wiring, copper plumbing, appliances and electronics ...
All smell like mothballs or some similar, probably carcinogenic, petrochemical product. I bought a dolly with some Chinese pneumatic tires that stunk so bad I had to leave it outdoors because I couldn’t stand it being in the garage.
January 04, 2020, 03:45 PM
sjtill
The worst I ever experienced was a gun safe I bought at Home Depot. I could not get rid of the smell (our resident safe expert said it "smelled like China", so eventually returned the safe--yes, Home Depot took it back. Got a Liberty Safe instead.
_________________________ “Remember, remember the fifth of November!"
January 04, 2020, 03:50 PM
Wreckless
If you have ever been to a Chinese Rubber factory you would understand. I have and you are coughing up black colored phlegm for days afterward.
La Dolce Vita
January 04, 2020, 05:00 PM
mcrimm
We just bought a rubber bathtub matt at Wally. After Mrs put in the tub and we each took a shower, I went into the bathroom and thought someone took a shit next to the toilet. NastyThis message has been edited. Last edited by: mcrimm,
I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown ................................... When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
January 04, 2020, 05:33 PM
erj_pilot
quote:
Originally posted by arfmel: Harbor Freight
I can smell that place in my mind just from the mere mention of the associated odor in this thread...
"If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24