Sticking it to the wood

Formaldehyde really sucks. It’s carcinogenic, and breathing it causes headaches and runny mucous right away. But it’s an essential part of the glues that make plywood, particle board, and fiberboard possible, without which we wouldn’t have much in the way of homes and furniture. But all that’s about to change thanks to he lowly mussel, the groovy little mollusc that attaches itself to rocks with a sticky foot.

CORVALLIS — A weekend trip to the Oregon coast gave Kaichang Li an idea that is revolutionizing the wood manufacturing industry and will mean cleaner air indoors and out.

It’s a new adhesive that’s a safe replacement for chemical glues in plywood, particleboard and other manufactured wood that leak noxious formaldehyde fumes into homes. It’s so simple and inexpensive that Li, an assistant professor at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, can whip it up from soy flour in a kitchen mixer on his laboratory counter.

The tenacious foothold of mussels in the ocean surf inspired the new glue, and its commercial potential could extend to almost every new home and building. OSU patented the adhesive in the United States and other countries, and is licensing it to companies.

The OSU professor figured out how to make a soy-based glue with essential amino acids from the mussel and outperforms formaldehyde and doesn’t make you sick. Hungry maybe, but that’s about it.

This kinda stuff is cool, but it makes me wonder why my smaller Giant Clam won’t stick herself to a rock like she’s supposed to.