New World of Polymers

The Facts about Polyesters, Vinyl esters, & Epoxies

When the word fiberglass was first introduced people thought of it as a plastic. One of the first signs of fiberglass being used for a given product was first noticed during World War 2 when a German plane was shot down in England and the propeller of the plane was made of fiberglass. The English and Americans were dumb-founded. After the war the space race was on and plastics began to show up everywhere. The fact that certain plastics and all fibreglasses continuously give off emissions and can be toxic to the environment was not known until recently. One example of this can be found when people put certain plastic food containers in microwaves and toxic elements are released into the food. Another example is
drinking water tanks made out of fiberglass and gel coats where the fiberglass and gel coat breaks down and releases styrene and oils into the water causing people to become very ill. Have you ever drunk water from a tank and had it taste like plastic?

What we are about to show you are the facts about toxic fiberglass products and why Epoxy is becoming so popular today.

First of all Polyester and Vinyl ester resins are ½ the strength of epoxy and secondly they do not hold water or can contain a liquid.

Example: If you rolled or sprayed polyester or vinyl ester resin on a surface of concrete, steel, or any substrate, it would not hold water. It dries outward and under a microscope has small holes. Even when you use polyester or vinyl ester with a fiberglass matting it still will not hold water. You must apply a gel coat to contain the water. This is a well known fact to the boat builders of today. All gel coats made today are not warranted by the manufacturer for more than one year. This is why most one piece pools and yachts are only warranted for one year on the outer coating.

If you roll out an epoxy resin it will bond to concrete and steel and will film and dry
from the top down causing the material to be non-porous. Under a microscope there are no small hydration holes, therefore each and every coat of epoxy not only bonds to the material it is being applied to, but is also watertight.

When you walk into a hardware store you will see epoxy used for repairing everything from coffee cups to concrete. Construction companies use epoxy to repair sea walls, tunnels, and bridges. Dentists use epoxy for teeth, and doctors for bone repair. You never see them using a polyester or vinyl ester product for these repairs 1) because it will not bond 2) because it is toxic. When a tank or pool is in need of underwater repair it is repaired with epoxy. All underwater repair products are epoxy. No underwater repair materials are made from polyester or vinyl ester. All industrial grade products for coating wastewater treatment tanks, chlorine tanks, muriatic acid tanks, and fuel tanks are epoxy. Once again
there are no polyester or vinyl ester tanks anymore.

Standard fiberglass has been outlawed today for any use for food, drinking water, biological, and aquariums. The EPA and OSHA have found that polyesters, vinyl esters, and gel coats continue to give off toxic fumes and eventually break down in many cases. Therefore all external and internal coatings must be a certified NSF product. NSA or ANSI products are all epoxies. The Federal Government must certify these products.

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