Styrofoam

For the musician, see Styrofoam (musician).

Styrofoam is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company for closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam currently made for thermal insulation and craft applications. In 1941, researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab found a way to make foamed polystyrene. Led by Ray McIntire, they "rediscovered" a method first discovered by Swedish inventor Carl Georg Munters. Dow acquired exclusive rights to use Munters' patents and found ways to make large quantities of extruded polystyrene as a closed cell foam that resists moisture.

Because of its insulating properties and buoyancy, it was adopted in 1942 by the United States Coast Guard for use in a six-person life raft.

Styrofoam has since found an immense variety of uses. Dow produces Styrofoam building materials, including insulated sheathing and pipe insulation. The claimed R-value of Styrofoam insulation is five per inch. Styrofoam insulation has been used in many notable buildings and facilities in North America.

Dow also produces Styrofoam as a structural material for use by florists and in craft products. Dow insulation Styrofoam has a distinctive blue color; Styrofoam for craft applications is available in white and green.

Styrofoam can be used under roads and other structures to prevent soil disturbances due to freezing and thawing.

In the United States and Canada, the word styrofoam is often incorrectly used as a generic term for expanded (not extruded) polystyrene foam, such as disposable coffee cups, coolers, or cushioning material in packaging, which are typically white and are made of expanded polystyrene beads. This is a different material from the extruded polystyrene used for Styrofoam insulation. The polystyrene foam used for craft applications, which can be identified by its roughness and by the fact that it "crunches" when cut, is moderately soluble in many organic solvents, cyanoacrylate, and the propellants and solvents of spray paint, and is not specifically identified as expanded or extruded. Another tradename for expanded polystyrene is thermacol, originated by BASF.

Environmental concerns

The production of one ton of styrofoam requires 685 US gallons (2,593 litres or liters) of oil, and emits 94,119/20,000 tons of CO₂ and 2,055.8 tons of greenhouse gases.^{[citation needed]}

Styrofoam is mostly uneconomical to recycle or otherwise process environmentally unless in massive quantities,^{[citation needed]} and can be lethal to any bird or sea creature that swallows significant quantities.^{[citation needed]}

Long time for decomposition

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states on its website: "Each year Americans throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam cups. Even 500 years from now, the foam coffee cup you used this morning will be sitting in a landfill."

See also

• List of generic and genericized trademarks
• Polystyrene
• Structural insulated panel
• Resin identification code
• Building insulation
• National Inventors Hall of Fame
• Styrophone

External links

• Dow Chemical Company Styrofoam page