[Kim Byung-min's Science Village] Plastic Replaced Ivory but Did Not Save Elephants

Byungmin Kim, Science Writer

Nowadays, the monopoly on billiard ball manufacturing has been broken, and multiple companies produce them. However, for over 80 years, a Belgian company held exclusive production rights. That Belgian company still occupies more than 80% of the market.

Billiard balls may not seem complicated, but they must meet surprisingly stringent conditions. They need to withstand about 400,000 hits and a load of 5 tons. Elasticity is essential, and they must maintain a perfectly spherical shape without deformation. Such demanding manufacturing processes are kept as top corporate secrets.

In fact, when a billiard ball is struck, its speed reaches 30 km/h. The frictional heat generated between the ball and the billiard table surface can momentarily rise to 250 degrees Celsius, so heat resistance is also necessary. The main material of billiard balls is already known. However, the additives and the manufacturing process, which involves dozens of steps, remain highly confidential within the industry.

Billiards originated around 400 BC in Greece. Modern billiards is said to be a variation of cricket games enjoyed in England and France around the 14th century. It is difficult to estimate the number of billiards enthusiasts worldwide today. However, in South Korea alone, billiards is a sport enjoyed by people of all ages and genders. Presumably, the demand for billiard balls has been quite high both in the past and now.

The main component of billiard balls currently in use is phenolic resin. Phenolic resin is a type of plastic. Early billiard balls were made from wood or stone. However, these materials were not suitable for the characteristics required of billiard balls. So, what were billiard balls made of before plastics existed? Ivory was the material that met the demanding conditions of billiard balls. Ivory comes from the tusks located in the upper jaw of elephants.

Thanks to its special properties, ivory was used not only for billiard balls but also for tobacco pipes, piano keys, and combs. In a way, it was a kind of luxury item. During the imperialist era, ivory was a material that fulfilled the desires of European aristocrats. The regions that could supply ivory to them are easily guessed: the African colonies.

Currently, the Republic of C?te d'Ivoire is located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. It borders Mali to the north, Ghana to the east, and Guinea to the west. The French name C?te d'Ivoire means "Ivory Coast." From the late 15th century, European imperialist countries began to exploit ivory mainly along this colonial coast. One can imagine how many elephants were sacrificed. The demand for ivory likely surged in the 19th century when billiard balls were made from ivory.

Human insatiable greed has also influenced ecosystem evolution. In some cases, the absence of ivory became an evolutionary advantage, leading to the emergence of elephants without tusks. Of course, humanity also felt a sense of crisis. However, the sense of crisis was probably greater in the supply and demand chain for ivory than in the awareness of ecological danger.

In the mid-19th century, Michael Phelan, president of an American billiard goods manufacturing company, advertised in newspapers that he would award $10,000 to anyone who could create a substitute material for ivory. John Wesley Hyatt, a printer from New York, developed a thermoplastic material extracted from coal that resembled ivory. This was the first natural resin named "celluloid" (meaning a substance similar to cellulose, the basic component of plant cell walls), marking the advent of plastic.

Hyatt was not the first to invent this new material. The origin was "Parkesine," developed in 1855 by Alexander Parkes in England by adding nitric acid to cotton. Hyatt improved this manufacturing technology and succeeded in producing celluloid. However, he did not receive the prize offered by Phelan. It was difficult to completely replace ivory billiard balls with celluloid due to the properties of its main component, nitrocellulose.

Nitrocellulose, also used as an explosive material, is brittle and prone to explosion, making it unsuitable as a billiard ball material. Nevertheless, thanks to celluloid, ordinary people could purchase items with an ivory-like feel at affordable prices. One of the philosophies inherent in plastic is the democratization of material consumption. Thanks to plastic, consumption democratization was achieved regardless of wealth disparities.

So, when did phenolic resin, the main component of current billiard balls, appear? When phenol (carbolic acid) and formalin (aqueous formaldehyde solution) are mixed and heated, a resinous substance is produced. In 1872, German chemist Adolf von Baeyer discovered and published this. However, at the time, it was insufficient to become a material for special substances. His paper, which did not receive much attention, lay dormant for about 30 years.

Then, in 1906, Leo Hendrik Baekeland, an American chemist and businessman, found von Baeyer's dormant paper. He improved the reaction method between formaldehyde and phenol. The resulting material was named after him and sold as "Bakelite." This was the first synthetic resin plastic.

John Wesley Hyatt of the United States Successfully Developed Celluloid as an Ivory Substitute for Billiard Balls
Despite Perfect Material Substitution, Cruel Elephant Hunting Continued for Ivory as a Symbol of Wealth
Phenolic Resin, the Main Component of Current Billiard Balls, Commercialized in the 20th Century
Disposable Products and Fossil Fuels Have Only Worsened Earth's Condition

Fossil resources are gifts from nature. We use these gifts to create various materials. Starting with phenolic resin made from coal, neoprene and nylon appeared in 1937, and petroleum began to be utilized. Thanks to the all-purpose materials and energy produced by the petrochemical industry, ordinary people could use high-quality materials without damaging nature, achieving the democratization of materials.

Many natural entities have been sacrificed to human selfishness and profit, not just elephants. We also hear stories of science saving nature. For example, to obtain natural purple dye, 12,000 sea snails were killed to extract just 1 mg of dye. The oil for lamps that lit the night was extracted from the brains of captured sperm whales. Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick" deals with whale overhunting at the time.

Many other natural resources have been sacrificed for human desires. It is said that science created materials and that scientific civilization saved natural ecosystems. But is that only how it appears on the surface? Although ivory was replaced by plastic, elephants no longer roam the African savannah peacefully as before.

Even in this era of advanced civilization and supposed abundance, animal bodies are still traded as symbols of human greed and wealth. In January, MBC aired a documentary titled "Humanimal," which covered elephant hunting. Hunters injured elephants with guns and then used chainsaws to sever their spines, rendering them helpless. They even cut off the heads of still-living elephants to extract ivory down to the roots.

Why do living beings that should coexist with us still suffer, and why do Earth's species continue to disappear? The broadcast subtitle that remains in memory says, "Although the generation of human greed has changed, its cruelty remains unchanged."

Nature has given humanity a great gift. What are we giving back to nature? Looking back, fossil resources are the most expensive energy in history. Enormous costs are involved from extraction to refining and production. The infrastructure of the Industrial Revolution was designed on this foundation. Global companies emerged to vertically integrate and operate this, moving toward a neoliberal economy that pursues only efficiency and short-term profits.

Long-term perspectives and investments for Earth's future have disappeared. Carbon from the crust is extracted and poured into the atmosphere and nature daily through disposable products and fossil fuels. The Earth, shaped like a billiard ball, is suffering. Due to ecosystem changes and habitat shifts caused by climate change, viruses eventually move from animals to humans. Because of this, humanity is currently experiencing the democratization of equal suffering through infectious diseases. Human society, having lost resilience, is being incapacitated by a natural experiment never before experienced.

The term "new normal" is often mentioned, but it seems no one can propose a new standard. This is because existing social experiences and rules no longer apply.

It may be arrogant to say that humanity saved nature with billiard balls. It is time to consider whether we have lived roundly like billiard balls on this round Earth, together with nature and other life forms. Amid repeated history and countless warnings from nature, what are we ignoring or missing?

By Kim Byung-min, Adjunct Professor, Nano Convergence School, Hallym University