AbstractA laser Raman spectroscopic study has been made of the effect of barium and cadmium stabilizers on the thermal dehydrochlorination of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). The results obtained indicate that, in terms of the total level of dehydrochlorination, cadmium stearate is not as superior to barium stearate as the visual appearance of the polymer suggests. Also, the level of dehydrochlorination produced in the presence of a mixed stabilizer is not significantly lower than that produced in the presence of barium stearate alone, while samples of the latter exhibit much stronger color. It has also been shown that cadmium stearate can reduce the length of long polyene sequences, presumably by a reaction near the center of such a sequence.