4 ms·

I agree. Wouldn't vaporizing anything recycle it into a gas, like, by definition? (If only temporarily.)

• analog31 2y ago
  Yes, but what gas? Maybe the title should have said either "useful" or at least "harmless" gas. The gases that come from basic polymers could be comparable in those ways, to the original petroleum. They could even be reformed into new polymers, or used as fuel. By way of contrast: Vaporizing lead or mercury compounds, not such a good idea.
  • bell-cot 2y ago
    Tangential Safety Note: Metallic (liquid) mercury does evaporate at room temperature, or even far below that, at dangerously high rates. Unless you're eager for brain damage, never have an unseal container of that stuff around. And treat any spill - even "grandma's old thermometer broke" - as a for-real HazMat situation.
  • marcosdumay 2y ago
    Those gases are not "harmless" by any metric. They must be promptly used or they are a much larger problem than the plastics. But the GPs point seems to be that only those two specific kinds of plastic vaporize into those tractable gases. Most of them become all kinds of things, from wild poisons to chemical nightmares that will destroy your equipment.