Release of dithiocarbamates into artificial sweat from latex vulcanizates: Effects of the accelerator type and storage time

The release of commonly used dithiocarbamate accelerators, namely, zinc diethyldithiocarbamate (ZDEC), zinc dibutyldithiocarbamate (ZDBC), zinc dibenzyldithiocarbamate, zinc isobutyldithiocarbamate, and zinc diisononyldithiocarbamate, into artificial sweat from natural rubber latex vulcanizates was studied. The extent of release of ZDEC was much higher than that of ZDBC or other higher homologues, as indicated by high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis. The effect of the storage time on the extent of release of ZDEC into artificial sweat from vulcanizates prepared with various amounts of ZDEC was studied. The result showed that ZDEC migrated significantly to the surface of the vulcanizates upon storage, and the amount that migrated increased with an increase in the shelf time. Moreover, the amount of ZDEC that migrated increased with an increase in the amount of ZDEC added to the latex formulations. The rate of migration, as determined from the slopes of the migration curves, was dependent on the residual ZDEC content, which in turn depended on the initial level of ZDEC incorporated during latex compounding. The analysis of the migration data showed that the migration followed a Fickian behavior, and the diffusion coefficient of ZDEC was slightly dependent on the concentration. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 2055–2061, 2006