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So one thing we do know: the monomers for every single polymer in wide spread use show estrogenic activity on cellular cultures. And unless they’re kinda exotic

So one thing we do know: the monomers for every single polymer in wide spread use show estrogenic activity on cellular cultures. And unless they’re kinda exotic the polymers will shed a little in water or ethanol solutions https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/ Is one such study that does some in vitro/lab assays

onetimeuse92304 3y ago
Yeah. One reason I am trying to stay away from food and especially fluids packaged in anything else than glass. Even aluminium or paper containers are really just plastic where it matters -- the surface in contact with food is all plastic. Unfortunately, this isn't doing anything to the plastic already present in the environment.
- carterschonwald 3y ago
  You mean the lining in aluminum cans? Totally. Stainless steel has a pretty good safety profile when it’s properly passivated
  - onetimeuse92304 3y ago
    Stainless steel is also very expensive comparing to other types of containers. Good luck finding a food item packaged in stainless steel.
  - jorvi 3y ago
    Important note that plastic lining (bad in its own ways) effectively ended the main cause of botulism deaths.
    - amanaplanacanal 3y ago
      I’d like to hear more about this. How were unlined aluminum cans contributing to botulism deaths?
      - jorvi 3y ago
        You can search for the full science behind it, but metal cans that have a breaching dent will allow air and bacteria into the can. Plastic liners make it very unlikely for small dents to actually cause a breach, whereas with old “naked” cans that was not the case. Cans with deep dents are not protected however, and these should always be discarded.
amluto 3y ago
> the monomers for every single polymer in wide spread use show estrogenic activity This is at least a bit silly. Ethylene is a gas, and it’s also a widespread, naturally occurring plant hormone. Propylene is also a gas. Lactic acid is a food and a widespread chemical produced by your body.
- carterschonwald 3y ago
  Totally, the pubmed article I linked has better nuance than I’m able to articulate
- adrian_b 3y ago
  The article linked by the poster above was less about the monomers, which in many cases are not dangerous as you correctly say, but more about the junk additives that are included in almost any object made of plastic in order to decrease various processing costs. The fact that the manufacturer declares that some object is made from a supposedly safe polymer like polyethylene or polypropylene is unfortunately not enough, because it may contain large amounts of non-declared additives and fillers that are much more dangerous than the base polymer or monomers.
- carterschonwald 3y ago
  Many plastics still are bisphenol chemistry based, just not bpa in particular. Turns out that that whole class of compounds is just bad news… but also essential for chemistry reason to make many useful plastics

onetimeuse92304 3y ago

Yeah. One reason I am trying to stay away from food and especially fluids packaged in anything else than glass. Even aluminium or paper containers are really just plastic where it matters -- the surface in contact with food is all plastic. Unfortunately, this isn't doing anything to the plastic already present in the environment.

carterschonwald 3y ago
You mean the lining in aluminum cans? Totally. Stainless steel has a pretty good safety profile when it’s properly passivated
- onetimeuse92304 3y ago
  Stainless steel is also very expensive comparing to other types of containers. Good luck finding a food item packaged in stainless steel.
- jorvi 3y ago
  Important note that plastic lining (bad in its own ways) effectively ended the main cause of botulism deaths.
  - amanaplanacanal 3y ago
    I’d like to hear more about this. How were unlined aluminum cans contributing to botulism deaths?
    - jorvi 3y ago
      You can search for the full science behind it, but metal cans that have a breaching dent will allow air and bacteria into the can. Plastic liners make it very unlikely for small dents to actually cause a breach, whereas with old “naked” cans that was not the case. Cans with deep dents are not protected however, and these should always be discarded.

amluto 3y ago

> the monomers for every single polymer in wide spread use show estrogenic activity This is at least a bit silly. Ethylene is a gas, and it’s also a widespread, naturally occurring plant hormone. Propylene is also a gas. Lactic acid is a food and a widespread chemical produced by your body.

carterschonwald 3y ago
Totally, the pubmed article I linked has better nuance than I’m able to articulate
adrian_b 3y ago
The article linked by the poster above was less about the monomers, which in many cases are not dangerous as you correctly say, but more about the junk additives that are included in almost any object made of plastic in order to decrease various processing costs. The fact that the manufacturer declares that some object is made from a supposedly safe polymer like polyethylene or polypropylene is unfortunately not enough, because it may contain large amounts of non-declared additives and fillers that are much more dangerous than the base polymer or monomers.
carterschonwald 3y ago
Many plastics still are bisphenol chemistry based, just not bpa in particular. Turns out that that whole class of compounds is just bad news… but also essential for chemistry reason to make many useful plastics