What smell can tell: using Magic Chemisorbers and GC/MS to capture and analyse volatiles off-gassing from plastic coatings

Odour that may be released when opening packaging of plastic objects is often a concern for collection managers. Volatile compounds emitted by three separate plastic-coated textile objects from Centraal Museum Utrecht were identified. Samples are analysed with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and (pyrolysis) Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Polar and apolar Magic Chemisorbers are used to trap volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that the plastic coatings are off-gassing. Two of the objects have a plasticised polyvinylchloride (PVC-P) coating giving off a faint chemically sweet smell, where the DEHP plasticiser is detected as the main off-gassing compound. The third object has a polyurethane (PUR) ester coating which has a very rancid smell, most likely a result of the off-gassing of butanoic acid and naphthalene derivatives. This pilot study shows that polar (PEG) and apolar (PDMS) Magic Chemisorbers are useful sorbents to trap compounds that are off-gassing from plastic coatings.