Heat stabilizers are a necessary ingredient when PVC is processed into products. As part of the manufacturing process, the polymer must be heated to high temperatures and, without stabilizers, these temperatures would cause the polymer to decompose. Tin is only one of several stabilizers that have been used in vinyl products for more than 50 years.

There are three major types of tin stabilizers (organotin stabilizers), distinguished by their respective alkyl groups: octyl, butyl and methyl.