Hi Jim!

You're right, I am a geek! And what's worse...I don't even care!

Let me see if I can address this PVC thing in a different way.
In an earlier post, Chuck Rogers mentions he sells non-PVC holders...
here is the problem with the test Susan claims to be usefull...
supose you buy some of Chucks holders not knowing that they are PVC
free....you read a post/article or whatever that shows damage to chips
in PVC holders and quotes Susan's little fire test. This person may
decide to do the test on their holder from Chuck. They burn a sample
on copper wire and to their amazement the flame burns GREEN!! They
panic and get rid of all Chucks holders...That would be the perfect
example of a false positive test. No PVC but why does it burn green???
It burns green becuase because there is a chemical in the plasticizer
that contains a hologen(which doesn't mean that it is chlorine)
OR there is a chemical in the plastiicizer or "plastic"...acrylic
or whatever it is...that causes the flame to burn green...like a
nitrile ( CN group). Chucks holders apparently cause no damage but
the Beilstein test says it would. (I don't know how Chuck's holders
would burn..never burned any...just a hypothetical situation)

The next scenario....you take a holder of unknown composition and do
the burn test...the flame burns deep red. What does that mean? Does
it mean that my holders are PVC free? Not necessarily. It just means
that there is a compound that burns red and does so more intensly
and masks the green color.

The bottom line is: The Beilstein test is VERY, VERY limited and
rarely used in the chemical world because of lack of sensitivity.
That test cannot tell you %100 anything. It can give you a maybe.
PVC isn't the problem...it's the chemicals that make the PVC
pliable and easy to work with that is causing the problem...and there
is no test convenient for home use that will tell you if your holder
has the damaging plasticizers.

I give up! Where's Gene's fork...

Katie