<The shiny layer is aluminum. I heard of someone who threw a <favorite cd into lake in frustration, but few years later, found it <again, it's ruined. What people fail to realize is that plastics for the most part are not hermetic! Over time most plastics absorb water and water will react with aluminum to ozidize it. Same for plastic encapsulated chips!!! It's that permeability of plastics that cause anything encapsulated in them to degrade ofver time unless the material is passivated or chemically stable (gold, platinum...). Heat accelerates the reactions. Allison