They use cheap injection-moldable plastics that tend to break down in the presence of the oils that your skin produces. When you use the thing every day, you’re rubbing off the tiny amount on the surface that’s reacted, so you don’t notice it. When you don’t use it for a while, though, more of it can build up.
I think it’s a combination of oils from your hand and oxidation.
If you ever have the chance to dig around in an old toolbox, smell the handles of screwdrivers. If any of them smell like vomit, it’s partly made with butyl rubber that’s degraded into butyric acid which is one chemical that gives vomit its unpleasant smell.
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