Playground slides protected from UV light due to BASF's light stabiliser

BASF’s light stabiliser Tinuvin has been adopted by Suiko, Japan, to make rotationally-moulded low-density polyethylene (LDPE) slides, complete with UV stabilised and antistatic properties, for children’s playgrounds.

As LDPE playground slides are prone to UV degradation, this causes discolouration and deterioration of physical properties.

In light of this, Suiko has added Tinuvin to the polymer resin in the slide to provide UV stabilisation and to ensure that the colour of the playground slide will remain bright and colourful for future years.

Suiko’s strength is in rotational moulding technology, and it also has the technology for diagnosing UV degradation on the outer surface of moulded products. By using this deterioration diagnosis technology, they can recommend an appropriate time to replace the slide and thereby increase the safety of playground equipment

“Safety is a very important factor to consider when creating anything used by children. Playground equipment is no exception,” said Hermann Althoff, BASF’s Senior Vice President, Performance Chemicals Asia Pacific.

“Our light stabilisers enable manufacturers of outdoor playground equipment to build with standard UV inhibitors that increase the lifespan of the product and protect it from cracks and deterioration.”

Hiroyuki Sakaki, head of R&D at Suiko, said, “Slides are usually placed outdoors and need to be resistant to weather conditions. Our big challenge was to maintain not only the physical properties of polyethylene but also the antistatic performance under such severe conditions. BASF’s proposal for an accurate product selection and dosage based on their abundant UV absorbers, light stabilisers, and weathering test data enabled us to develop the antistatic slide.”