| Where Does Rubber Come From? |
| Brazil is where the rubber tree, Hevea Brasiliensis, originated. Now however that country is no longer a major contributor of natural rubber for world use. Today, the largest rubber producing countries are; Thailand - exports 168,000 tons Indonesia - exports 26,000 tons Malaysia - exports 109,000 tons Sri Lanka - exports 3,000 tons Providid by IRSG, 1995 |
| History of latex production |
| In 1876, seeds were exported from the Lower Amazon area of Brazil, to London by Henry Wickham, a local planter acting for the British Government. The seeds were germinated at the Tropical Herbarium in Kew Gardens, London later that year. From there, seedlings were exported to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). !n 1877, 22 seedlings were exported from Ceylon to Singapore, where they grew very well. There the technique of tapping was developed. Prior to tapping, trees were cut down to extract the latex. By 1900, agricultural sciences had produced techniques of bud grafting, a cloning process to ensure genetically identical, high yeilding trees, in unlimited numbers. Over the next 40 years, or so the British in Malaysia, and the Dutch in Indonesia, created large rubber plantations. Local farmers saw the potential of this form of agriculture, and created smaller farms, or smallholdings as they were called. Most solid rubber comes from these smallholdings, while liquid latex comes from the large professionally managed plantation estates. |
| Exactly What IS latex |
| Latex is often described as sap from the Heva tree. Not really! Sap run deeper inside the tree, beneath the cambium (the soft layer just under the bark, where all of the tree's growth takes place). The tapper must not slice deeply into this cambium layer, or it can damage the tree, and the tree will stop producing latex. All natural rubber comes from the Heva tree. A tree is tapped no more than once every two days. In a manner similar to maple tapping, a tapper starts his rounds before dawn. At each tree a sharp knife is used to shave off a very thin slice of bark. this starts the latex flowing. The tapper then leaves a small cup under the cut to collect the flowing latex. Normally this latex would coagulate into a lump at the bottom of the cup. This is called cup lump latex. It is processed into Technically Specified Rubber, TSR, Or sheet Latex. If the manufacturer wants to produce liquid latex, a stabilizer is added to the cup first, to prevent the raw rubber from coagulating. This stabilizer is usually ammonia. A few hours later the tapper collects the stuff in the cups, and takes it for processing. |
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| The Process of Processing |
| Liquid latex represents only about 10 percent of all natural rubber produced. The uncoagulated material that is collected from tapping is poured into containers, and delivered to a processing station where it is strained and concentrated. More ammonia is added, and the latex goes into a centrifuge to remove some of the water, and increase the rubber content of the latex. After centrifuging, the material is known as latex concentrate, and contains about 60 percent rubber and 40 percent water, ammonia, and proteins, etc. This latex concentrate is used in the mask making process. Depending on the use of the rubber, whether it's for a mask, rubber glove, doll head, or mannequin's hand, the rubber can be thinned with distilled water and ammonia, or a filler (an inert powder) can be added to make the cured rubber stiffer, and less strecthy. This filled rubber is called Doll Rubber, or Mannequin Rubber. |
| How Can I get It? |
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| Today, many importers of rubber are also the end consumers of that natural rubber. Up until the late 1980's, In the Los Angeles area, the Goodyear Tire And Rubber Company was the foremost rubber supplier of latex, and rubber products in the west. Not only did they manufacture automotive tires, and industrial application tires, but supplied liquid latex to the Motion Picture Industry, and other companies,for decades. There are now many suppliers of liquid latex accessable to the private consumer. |
| To find out more about latex allergies, go to; http://www.nursingceu.com/NCEU/courses/latex/ |
| Allergies? |
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| Latex is everywhere. Thousands of consumer and healthcare products contain natural rubber latex. Allergic reactions to latex occur in all populations, in all work environments and all walks of life. Latex protein allergies are increasing among nurses, physicians, surgeons, dentists, medical and dental technologists and a host of others whose occupation brings them in frequent contact with natural rubber latex. In part, this is because latex is the material of choice for the manufacturing of protective materials, especially gloves. This is due to its superb tactile characteristics, tear resistance and superior elasticity. (Koriewicz, 1995) |
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| A MASK DOCTOR RX by Kelly Mann
SIMPLE WAYS TO KEEP YOUR MASKS LOOKING GREAT. |
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