Re: Corn Plastic: Polylactic acid (PLA)

[Guest guest]

--- Lana Gibbons <lana.m.gibbons@...> wrote:

> So I've been really skeptical of these new corn based plastics. I

> hate plastic as a rule. But then I was reading something that

> disclosed the chemical name... PLA...PolyLACTIC ACID.

>

> I *like* lactic acid. It is perhaps my favorite fermentation

> byproduct. So... Any thoughts on this newfangled plastic?

Lana, I hadn't heard of it before, but it sounds interesting in that

it's biodegradable, unlike most other plastics. I found that wiki has

an article on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid

I assume that it degrades into lactic acid, but the wiki article

didn't say. Maybe we can have our plastic and eat it too

Looks like there could be some potential for contamination from the

manufacturing process, but wiki doesn't cover that.