Rubber

Rubber is an elastic material that is used to create many products that we use everyday. Combining natural and synthetic rubber, the world uses eleven million tons of rubber each year, with approximately seven million tons being used to develop and create parts for the automobile industry. Tire, gaskets, interior parts, and wiring are just a few examples of auto parts that require the use of rubber technologies. http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisrubber_ojv.htm

• Natural Rubber

This material dates back to the Mayan era, where latex was taken from the trees and combined with the sap from the morning glories to create an elastic substance that was used to make balls, adhere spear heads and create figurines. http://www.essortment.com/all/historyofrubbe_rcml.htm Christopher Columbus is responsible for sharing the substance with the western world, and by the 1800's natural rubber had gained popularity and was used in many products. However, under extreme weather conditions, rubber became brittle in cold temperatures, and melted under hot temperatures. Many sought ways to create a waterproof and weatherproof variety of rubber but had been unsuccessful until Charles Goodyear happened upon the answer by mistake. In 1839, while displaying his latest combination of gum and sulphur, a bit of the concoction landed on top of a hot stove. This created a hardened material. Realizing that heat and sulphur had created a weatherproof rubber.This would come to be known as vulcanized rubber. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-vulcanized-rubber.htm

Approximately 1/3 of the world's rubber resource is natural rubber. The Hevea brasiliensis tree produces a latex sap that is used to make the natural form of rubber. To remove sap from the tree, it is cut, and the milky sap is then collected. Cutting the tree is done once the tree has matured and is done so that it can be controlled as to not endanger the tree. After the tree has been cut, sap will flow for approximately 1-3 hours before coagulating. Because such care is taken when tapping for latex, trees can be used productively for 25 years.http://fennerschool-associated.anu.edu.au//fpt/nwfp/naturalrubber/naturalrubber.html

• Synthetic Rubber

Manufacturing synthetic rubber uses petroleum products where crude oil is the principal material. There are about twenty different types of synthetic rubber based upon its chemical type. Synthetic rubber is also graded to distinguish its properties to determine the appropriate advantages for each industry. Butadiene and styrene are both by products from petroleum refinery, and when combined in a reactor with soapsuds, they create latex. http://www.rma.org/about_rma/rubber_faqs/ The first synthetic rubber was developed by chemist Fritz Hofmann in 1909. Hofmann used methyl-isoprene which had a similar chemical structure to that of the natural rubber molecule. By varying the degrees in which the substance was heated, he had created methyl rubber. In September of 1909, the first rubber patent in the world was awarded.http://www.lanxess.jp/lcs/en/documents/100YearsofSyntheticRubber_E_000.pdf

From clothing to transportation, rubber is a material that is present in every day life. Because of its flexibility, manufacturers rely on it to create products that require a range of motion as well as durability. There are hundreds of thousands of items that we use that contain rubber.

All of the following products use rubber latex in their manufacturing:

Glues and [[adhesives, art supplies, tires, audio and video equipment, balloons, pen, toy balls, bath mats, bungee cords, books, carpets, gum, contraceptives, cosmetics, wires, erasers, envelopes, food storage bags, shoes, hoses, gaskets, handles, insulation, mouse pads, packaging, spatulas, sponges, stretch fabric, tools, toothbrushes, and many more. http://www.allergyclinic.co.uk/latex.htm#items