Ka taea te whai i te whanaketanga o ngā kirihou ki waenganui o te rautau 19. I taua wā, hei whakatutuki i ngā hiahia o te umanga kakahu e tupu nui ana i te UK, i whakaranua e ngā kaimātai matū ngā matū rerekē, me te tumanako ka hangaia he wai māori me te tae. He tino pai ki ngā kaimātai matū te tāra waro, he para rite ki te pata i whakaemihia i roto i ngā auahi wheketere e whakakahangia ana e te hau māori.

Ko William Henry Platinum, he kaiawhina taiwhanga i te Royal Institute of Chemistry i Rānana, tētahi o ngā tāngata i whakahaere i tēnei whakamātautau. I tētahi rā, i te wā e muru ana te konukawata i ngā matū i maringi ki runga i te paepae i roto i te taiwhanga, i kitea kua taehia te kakahu ki roto i te tae lavender kāore i kitea i taua wā. Nā tēnei kitenga tūpono i uru ai te konukawata ki te umanga tae, ā, i te mutunga ka noho hei mirionaire.
Ahakoa ehara te kitenga o te konukawata i te kirihou, he mea nui tēnei kitenga tūpono nā te mea e whakaatu ana ka taea te whiwhi i ngā matū hanga-tangata mā te whakahaere i ngā rauemi rauropi taiao. Kua kite ngā kaihanga he maha ngā rauemi taiao pēnei i te rakau, te amipere, te rapa, me te karāhe he onge rawa, he utu nui rawa rānei, kāore rānei e pai mō te hanga papatipu nā te mea he utu nui rawa, he kore rānei e tino ngāwari. He whakakapinga pai ngā rauemi hanga. Ka taea e ia te huri i te āhua i raro i te wera me te pēhanga, ā, ka taea hoki e ia te pupuri i tōna āhua i muri i te whakamatao.
I mea atu a Colin Williamson, te kaiwhakaū o te London Society for the History of Plastics: "I taua wā, i te aroaro o te iwi ko te kimi i tētahi mea iti te utu, ngāwari hoki ki te whakarerekē."
Whai muri i te konukawata, i whakaranua e tētahi atu Ingarihi, e Alexander Parks, te chloroform me te hinu kātoro hei hanga i tētahi matū he rite te pakeke ki ngā haona kararehe. Koinei te kirihou horihori tuatahi. Ko te tumanako a Parks ki te whakamahi i tēnei kirihou hanga-tangata hei whakakapi i te rapa kāore e taea te whakamahi whānuitia nā te mea he nui ngā utu whakato, hauhake, me te tukatuka.
I ngana a John Wesley Hyatt, he kaimahi parakimete nō Niu Ioka, ki te hanga pōro piriata me ngā rauemi horihori hei utu mō ngā pōro piriata i hangaia ki te rei. Ahakoa kāore i whakatauhia e ia tēnei raruraru, i kitea e ia mā te whakaranu i te camphor me tētahi nui o te whakarewa, ka taea te whiwhi i tētahi rauemi ka taea te huri i te āhua i muri i te whakamahana. Ka tapaina tēnei rauemi e Hyatt he celluloid. Ko tēnei momo kirihou hou he āhuatanga o te hanga papatipu e ngā mīhini me ngā kaimahi kore pūkenga. Ka kawea mai ki te umanga kiriata he rauemi mārama, kaha, ngāwari hoki ka taea te whakaata i ngā whakaahua ki te pakitara.
I whakatairangahia hoki e te celluloid te whanaketanga o te umanga rekoata kāinga, ā, i te mutunga ka whakakapia ngā rekoata porotaka o mua. I muri mai ka taea te whakamahi i ngā kirihou hei hanga rekoata vinyl me ngā rīpene kaseti; hei whakamutunga, ka whakamahia te polycarbonate hei hanga kōpae kiato.
Mā te hangarau celluloid ka whānui te mākete e whakamahi ana i te whakaahua. I mua i te whanaketanga o te celluloid e George Eastman, he mahi uaua, he utu nui hoki te whakaahua nā te mea ko te kaiwhakaahua tonu te kaihanga kiriata. I puta ake he whakaaro hou ki a Eastman: i tukuna e te kaihoko te kiriata kua oti ki te toa i whakatuwheratia e ia, ā, nāna anō i whakawhanake te kiriata mā te kaihoko. Ko te celluloid te rauemi mārama tuatahi ka taea te hanga hei pepa angiangi, ka taea hoki te takai ki roto i te kāmera.
I tēnei wā pea, ka tūtaki a Eastman ki tētahi manene taitamariki nō Belgian, ki a Leo Beckeland. I kitea e Baekeland tētahi momo pepa tā e tino pāngia ana e te mārama. I hokona e Eastman te mea hou a Beckland mō te 750,000 tāra US (he rite ki te 2.5 miriona tāra US o nāianei). Me te pūtea kei a ia, ka hangaia e Baekeland tētahi taiwhanga. Ā, i te tau 1907 ka hangaia e ia te kirihou phenolic.
Kua tino angitu tēnei rauemi hou. Ko ngā hua i hangaia ki te kirihou phenolic ko ngā waea, ngā taura whakamahana, ngā pātene, ngā poroporo rererangi, me ngā pōro piriata kounga teitei.
He maha ngā momo pene wai e hangaia ana e te Kamupene Pene Parker mai i te kirihou phenolic. Hei whakaatu i te pakari o ngā kirihou phenolic, i whakaatu te kamupene i te iwi whānui, ā, i tukuna te pene mai i ngā whare teitei. I whakatapua e te maheni "Time" tētahi tuhinga uhi hei whakaatu i te kaihanga o te kirihou phenolic me tēnei rauemi ka taea te "whakamahi i ngā mano tini wā".
I ētahi tau i muri mai, i puta anō hoki tētahi atu whanaketanga i te taiwhanga o DuPont: i hangaia e rātou te nairona, he hua e kiia nei ko te hiraka horihori. I te tau 1930, i rumakina e Wallace Carothers, he kaipūtaiao e mahi ana i te taiwhanga o DuPont, tētahi tokotoko karāhe wera ki roto i tētahi matū waro ngota roa, ā, i whiwhi ai i tētahi rauemi tino ngāwari. Ahakoa i rewa ngā kākahu i hangaia ki te nairona o mua i raro i te pāmahana teitei o te rino, i haere tonu te kaihanga a Carothers ki te mahi rangahau. Tata ki te waru tau i muri mai, i whakaurua mai e DuPont te nairona.
Kua whānuitia te whakamahinga o te nairona i te ao mahi, he nairona ngā parakaiti me ngā here hū katoa. Heoi, he hunga whakamahi nui ngā wāhine i te nairona. I te 15 o Mei, 1940, i hokona katoatia e ngā wāhine o Amerika e 5 miriona takirua o ngā tōkena nairona i hangaia e DuPont. He iti noa iho ngā tōkena nairona, ā, kua tīmata ētahi kaipakihi ki te whakaari i a rātou anō he tōkena nairona.
Engari he mutunga pōuri te angitu o te nairona: i whakamomori te kaihanga, a Carothers, mā te tango i te cyanide. I mea a Steven Finnichell, te kaituhi o te pukapuka "Plastic": "I puta te whakaaro i muri i taku panuitanga i te rātaka a Carothers: I kī a Carothers ko ngā rauemi i hangaia e ia i whakamahia hei hanga kākahu wahine. I tino pouri a Carothers. He tohunga ia, ā, nā tēnā i kore ai ia e taea te whakamanawanui." I whakaaro ia ka whakaaro te iwi ko tana whakatutukitanga matua he hanga noa i tētahi "hua arumoni noa."
I te wā o te pakanga, i miharo a DuPont ki te aroha o te tangata ki ana hua. I kitea e ngā Piritana he maha ngā whakamahinga o te kirihou i roto i te ao hōia. I kitea tēnei mea i runga i te tūpono. I whakahaerehia e ngā kaipūtaiao i roto i te taiwhanga o te Royal Chemical Industry Corporation o te United Kingdom tētahi whakamātautau kāore he pānga ki tēnei, ā, i kitea he matū ware pi mā i raro i te ngongo whakamātautau. Whai muri i ngā whakamātautau taiwhanga, i kitea he rauemi ārai pai tēnei matū. He rerekē ōna āhuatanga i te karāhe, ā, ka taea e ngā ngaru radar te haere mā roto. Ka kiia e ngā kaipūtaiao he polyethylene, ā, ka whakamahia hei hanga whare mō ngā teihana radar hei hopu i te hau me te ua, kia taea ai e te radar te hopu tonu i ngā waka rererangi hoariri i raro i te ua me te kohu matotoru.
I mea a Williamson o te Society for the History of Plastics: "E rua ngā āhuatanga e akiaki ana i te hanganga o ngā kirihou. Ko tētahi āhuatanga ko te hiahia ki te mahi moni, ko tētahi atu āhuatanga ko te pakanga." Heoi, ko ngā tekau tau i muri mai i tino hanga te kirihou hei Finney. I tapaina e Chell ko te tohu o te "rau o ngā rauemi hangai." I ngā tau 1950, i puta mai ngā ipu kai, ngā hāka, ngā pouaka hopi me ētahi atu hua whare i hangaia ki te kirihou; i ngā tau 1960, i puta mai ngā tūru pupuhi. I ngā tau 1970, i tohu ngā kaitiaki taiao kāore e taea e ngā kirihou te pirau i a rātou anō. Kua heke te hihiri o te tangata ki ngā hua kirihou.
Heoi, i ngā tau 1980 me 1990, nā te nui o te hiahia mō ngā kirihou i roto i ngā ahumahi hanga motuka me te rorohiko, ka whakaū ake te tūnga o ngā kirihou. Kāore e taea te whakakorekore i tēnei mea noa. E rima tekau tau ki muri, tekau mano tāne noa iho o te kirihou i taea e te ao te whakaputa i ia tau; i ēnei rā, neke atu i te 100 miriona tāne te hanga kirihou ā-tau o te ao. Ko te hanga kirihou ā-tau i te United States he nui ake i te hanga maitai, te konumohe me te parahi.
Ngā kirihou houkei te kitea tonutia ngā mea hou. I kī a Williamson o te Society for the History of Plastics: "Ka whakamahia e ngā kaihoahoa me ngā kaihanga ngā kirihou i te mano tau e whai ake nei. Kāore he rauemi whānau e rite ana ki te kirihou e taea ai e ngā kaihoahoa me ngā kaihanga te whakaoti i ā rātou ake hua i te utu tino iti. hanga.