Anything You Can Do, I Can Do BETTER!
In 1891, a German chemist named Adolph von Baeyer (pronounced "buyer") was looking for a synthetic dye, (he had long chased a dream of creating a dye the same color as indigo and later received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research, created barbiturates and was knighted by King Louis II of Bavaria,) and his student Werner Kleeberg heated phenol and formaldehyde with hydrochloric acid to create a pasty resinous substance. It hardened slowly, but released gas violently (hint, hint…) and became useless due to its porous and brittle end product.4
Along comes a brilliant Leo Hendrik Baekeland who had obtained a Doctor of Science Degree by the age of 21. Baekeland, who left Belgium and settled in New York, realized the potential of industrial chemistry and began working on an improved photographic printing paper to compete with Eastman Kodak (he was an amateur photographer). He created Velox, a photographic paper that could be developed under artificial light and sold it to his competitor, George Eastman, for a million dollars 5! Now a millionaire, he began working on a synthetic varnish that hardened wood and happened upon a new polymer that was derived from coal tar. Baekeland combined phenol and formaldehyde, added elements of heat and pressure, and formed a plastic he called Bakelite, pronounced "bay-ka-lite" (yet again, the modesty prevails.) Bakelite is considered the beginning of modern plastics. By 1907, its versatility was seen in many products such as casings for electrical wires, jewelry, radio and telephone casings, kitchenware, and even toys (hello Barbie!).
During the Second World War, restrictions were placed on imported items such as latex, wool, and silk. With an urgency to fulfill a need, many newer plastics were created were introduced. Polyethylene (used for plastic shopping bags), silicones (found in lubricants, sealants, adhesives, gels, coatings and breast implants), epoxies (used as an adhesive and a coating agent) and polystyrene (marketed as Styrofoam). Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) became the new insulation for cable due to limited stocks of natural rubber. PVC was used for Mattel's Barbie dolls because they were described as looking and feeling "real".6 Advancements in technology pushed the need for lighter, cheaper, and more versatile products. Believe it or not, advertising markets have helped drive the need to create more plastics, thereby placing us even more in harm's way.
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