Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions from the combustion of selected synthetic polymers (plastics), commonly found in municipal solid waste streams, were monitored usingbench-scale furnaces. Experiments were conducted burning aerosols of poly (styrene), poly (ethylene), poly (propylene), poly (methyl methacrylate), and poly (vinyl chloride) particles, in size cuts in the range of 150-300 Atm. Most experiments involved dilute dispersions of polymer particles free-falling in a drop-tube laminarflow furnace, at gas temperatures of 750-1150 C and residence timesof 0.5-2 s in air. Upon melting and pyrolysis, the polymer particles burned with luminous envelope flames, whose temperature and duration were measured pyrometrically in the near infrared. Moreover, the gas temperature and residence time were also measured to investigate the effects of both the flameand the postflame conditions on the PAH emissionlevels. PAHs were captured in the gas and solid phases using XAD adsorbers and glass fiber filters, respectively, and analysis was conducted with gas chromatography. Results showed that the temperatures and durations of sooting luminous flames, in air, were in the range of 1700-2900 C and 10-100 ms, respectively, with PVC flame durations being the shortest and those of poly (ethylene) the longest. Furthermore, the particle flame temperatures and durations did not change substantially with the gas temperature, in the range of 950-1150 C. Thus, changes in PAH concentrations were mostly attributed to postflame con-ditions. Effective destruction or minimization of toxic hydrocarbon species was found only at the highest postflame gas temperature and longest residence times explored in this study, ie, 1150 C and 2 s.