The plastic anatomy of a Barbie doll
Head and hair
Barbie doll heads are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), mixed
with plasticiser to make it more flexible. The hair is commonly
made from polyvinylidene dichloride (PVDC), but other polymers
including nylon and polypropylene.
CL
CL
CL
n
n
PVC
PVDC
Arms
Historically, Barbie doll arms were made of PVC. Today, Barbie's
arms are made of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), a copolymer of
ethylene and vinyl acetate which is soft and flexible.
EVA
n
0
0
KEY:
Carbon Oxygen Nitrogen Hydrogen
m
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INTEREST
Torso
PVC was used for early Barbie doll torsos. Dolls from the mid-
1960s to the mid-1970s used low density polyethylene (LDPE),
while today's dolls use acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS),
the same plastic that Lego bricks are made of.
ABS
Legs
Much like the other parts of the doll, PVC was used for the legs of
early dolls. It's still used today, though the phthalate plasticisers
used in early dolls have been replaced by safer alternatives. The
bend-leg armatures are made of polypropylene (PP).
PVC
CL
n
PP
n
Andy Brunning/Compound Interest 2023 | Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence
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