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Yes, and one way to prove that a bead in not phenolic is to heat it to 350 F. If it gives off a strong styrene odor and doesn't change color, then it is not phenolic resin. Found this out the hard way! In case you want to try this yourself - place the suspect bead in the oven at 350 F for only a few minutes (less than 5). If the bead is phenolic resin, there will be minimal color change in 5 minutes, and no odor. If the bead is polystyrene or polyester, the heat will knock the gloss off and the odor will be strong. Don't inhale a lot of it! The bead may start melting so place it on a piece of tin foil. Please see my follow-on posts (coming soon) on these types of plastic beads. All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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