Development of toxicity tests for Polyurethane foams
Julie Mallouhi,
Enikő Hornyák-Mester,
Miklós Varga,
Béla Viskolcz,
Béla Fiser,
Emma Szőri-Dorogházi
Affiliations
Julie Mallouhi
Institute of Chemistry, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary; Higher Education and Industrial Cooperation Centre, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary
Enikő Hornyák-Mester
Institute of Chemistry, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary; Higher Education and Industrial Cooperation Centre, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary
Miklós Varga
Institute of Chemistry, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary; Higher Education and Industrial Cooperation Centre, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary
Béla Viskolcz
Institute of Chemistry, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary; Higher Education and Industrial Cooperation Centre, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary
Béla Fiser
Institute of Chemistry, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary; Higher Education and Industrial Cooperation Centre, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary; Ferenc Rakoczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education, 90200 Beregszász, Transcarpathia, Ukraine; Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Lodz, 90-236 Lodz, Poland; Corresponding author. Institute of Chemistry, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary
Emma Szőri-Dorogházi
Higher Education and Industrial Cooperation Centre, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary; Corresponding author.
Polyurethanes (PUs) are a special class of polymeric materials that differ significantly from most other types of plastic in many aspects. They can be utilized in a wide range of products, including paints, coatings, elastomers, insulators, elastic fibers, and foams. PU foams are especially important as part of various convenience products. PU products often end up in landfills when they are no longer useful and can release toxic compounds when damaged by humans or microbes. Therefore, the ecotoxicological assessment of PU foams is essential. In this paper, five PU foam samples were prepared with different NCO indices (NCO-0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2) and together with the Control sample (a previously tested non-toxic foam sample) were applied to develop toxicity tests procedure, while intentionally prepared Toxic foam has been used to verify the accuracy of the developed testing procedure. Two test organisms were successfully applied, Sinapis alba (white mustard) seeds and Escherichia coli (non-pathogenic) bacterial model organisms, and toxicity tests were adapted for the examination of PU-derived substances. Regarding Sinapis alba test, the highest NCO index (NCO-1.2) significantly reduced root length by 9.8 % compared to the Control sample. In the bacterial test, it was observed that the samples containing NCO-1.1 and NCO-1.2 had lower colony numbers (5.0 × 108 and 4.9 × 108 CFU/mL respectively) in comparison to the Control plate (9.6 × 108 CFU/mL). All in all, two toxicity tests were successfully adapted for PU foams, and both are applicable in their ecotoxicological assessment.
