The rate of oxidation of stressed polyamide 6 film strips was investigated by stress-chemiluminescence (SCL). The strips were exposed to 0, 8, 20, 40 and 60% of load at yield, respectively. No increase in oxidation rate could be found with load. The SCL results were compared with measurements of elongation at break, the carbonyl index, UV absorption, total luminescence intensity (TLI) and mass crystallinity of creep-aged specimens. The results of these measurements were all in line with the SCL results, i.e, no increase in oxidation rate due to stress could be found. In a second set of experiments the degree of oxidation of film strips exposed to 6 different loads was studied. Exposure amounting to 0, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80% of load at yield, aged for 2 days at 120 degrees C, was compared with exposure to the same loads, aged for 4 weeks at 90 degrees C. No change in degree of oxidation due to stress could be found at either temperature. A small temperature profile in the oven during ageing did, however, result in differences in degree of oxidation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.