i think it's poly vinyl alcohol, although poly vinyl acetate also exists.... and it'd have the same acronym.... hmmm
yep, you're definitely a smart chemist (not that I ever doubted), and I have a letter from the University of Victoria proving it! PVA is definitely polyvinyl alcohol. My daughter just brought home a letter from an 'experiment' they did for science week. A gent from the U came to the school and made slime with the kids, using of all things, hospital laundry bags as their source of PVA. It was a neat idea Hermann... he sent home a letter explaining the experiment, the ingredients, the uses, and all the problems that might arise (stained carpet, irritated eyes, clogged drains, etc.), and even included, get this, his home phone number incase we had questions. Very neat.