ABSTRACT
Inasmuch as reinforcing agents such as glass fiber or carbon fiber are incorporated into polymers to improve their mechanical and other properties, any factor that might cause a deterioration in these properties is of interest in the applications of plastics in various industries. In some applications, particularly in the nuclear industry, medical instrumentation and packaging, microelectronics, and sterilization in the food industry, in which polymers are subject to gamma and other forms of radiation, the polymer can undergo damage often associated with a reduction in molecular weight. This, in turn, with some, but not all, polymers leads to serious deterioration in physical properties, such as impact and tensile strength. In an overall assessment of the risk of damage caused by gamma radiation, greater emphasis is now placed on changes in mechanical and other physical properties, and not, as was previously the case, the change in the color of the polymer.
