Polyvinyl chloride

Polyvinylchloride, or in short, PVC, is a plastic.

The monomer vinylchloride:

=-Cl (short for CH2=CH-Cl)

after polymerization, it develops into:

R-CHCl - CHCl - R

(R standing for more CHCl's)

Sorry for the bad ASCII "drawings". I'll try and improve that in a while ;)

Uses are for gramophone records (hence called vinyl records) and, in its soft form, for clothing?, upholstery? (car seats), etc.

Should mention phthalates controversy.