I'll add one of my beads to the group that needs ID from the chem lab. I hope to get some formal analyses done in the next few months.

I got mine off a necklace where all the other beads were phenolic resin. I assumed they were contemporaneous, however I don't recall if I did any testing. I re-tested them just now using various sniff tests, and I thought they"could" be casein. The odors are very faint. I have not done the hot-point test.

I have a small pile of synthetic beads & buttons that I couldn't ID for sure, and I have learned from the button collectors that "composition" is a material category. The odors from the composition buttons defy description, and the hot point tests don't match any of the "pure" plastics that I've tested so far.

Do you know anything else about the Chinese composition beads - specifically when they first appeared on the market? Do you have any that you can show for comparison?