3.26.2008 9:45 AM

Plastic Turns 75. Yay?

Plastic, 1933-?

Photo: Ljupco Smokovski / istock

By Dan Shapley

Polythene (a.k.a. polyethylene), the plastic found in plastics with recycling numbers 1, 2 and 4 turns 75 Thursday, as the Independent points out.

The first polythene was developed in 1899, but the innovation that sent it to the masses occurred in 1933.

While it revolutionized a range of fields, from medicine and food safety to simple consumerism, the days of ubiquitous plastic may be numbered, as concern mounts over the use of petroleum to manufacture plastics, the leaching of hormone-disrupting chemicals from certain plastics, and the litter produced when they aren't or can't be recycled. Still, plastics are likely to be with us for some time (quite literally, in the case of those suspect ingredients that can be detected in our bloodstream).

Happy? birthday.

COMMENTS ()