[Clean]

There are two identical plastic containers.

One container is half filled with water, and the other container is half filled with a more viscous fluid such as olive oil.

Both containers are heated. Will the same amount of material leach from the plastic containers into the water as would leach into the oil?

How will the distribution of the leached material be different in the oil and in the water?

[Corribus]

It depends a lot on what substances you think will be leeching and what the polymer is.

[Clean]

I am assuming that the substance will leach.

Can a slight degree of certainty in the conclusion be sacrificed in order to reach a general, for lack of better word, conclusion?

Here is my guess. I think that the plastic will leach more material into the water, and that this material will be more evenly distributed in the water.

[Borek]

Viscosity changes only the speed of the liquid mixing (if it is heated, it circulates because of convection). However, it doesn't say anything about solubility of whatever is going to be leached - and there are substances that are soluble in oils but insoluble in water and substances that are soluble in water, but insoluble in oils. Solubility is much more important part of the problem than viscosity.

[Clean]

Ah, solubility!

Thank you Corribus and Borek.

[Corribus]

Also don't forget that the relative solubility in the polymer is also important when determining a partition coefficient.