Chemists developed two sustainable plastic alternatives to polyethylene, derived from plants, that can be recycled with a recovery rate of more than 96%, as low-waste, environmentally friendly replacements to conventional fossil fuel-based plastics. (Nature, 17 Feb)

[u/mvea]

https://academictimes.com/new-plant-based-plastics-can-be-chemically-recycled-with-near-perfect-efficiency/

[u/[deleted]]

This caused me to read up on a great deal of different things and I realize that I’m simply not knowledgeable enough to continue the conversation.

[u/VaATC → u/[deleted]]

There is definitely research pointing in the other direction so you are not totally off base.

Mounting evidence strongly suggests that BPA may affect adipose tissue development and function, supporting the “environmental obesogen hypothesis” [3,35]. In the current study, we have observed that prolonged exposure to low doses of BPA affected adipocyte differentiation program, by increasing pre-adipocyte growth and by altering master regulatory genes of adipogenesis. Indeed, a significant increase of PPARγ, FABP4/AP2 and C/EBPα expression was detected. Interestingly, when differentiation program was carried out in the presence of BPA, enhanced lipid accumulation in mature adipocytes was also observed.. So it is definitely still up in the air. I just tend to lean towards the other camp, which could be associated with older biases.

Edit: The following is from The Journal of Toxicology that I posted earlier and explains why the conter-research is not wholy applicable.

Over the last few decades, there have been increased concerns regarding the effects of bisphenols on the development of metabolic diseases. Although there are studies that have investigated the direct effects of bisphenols on isolated adipocyte metabolism, to our knowledge, this is the first study exploring the direct effects of BPA or BPS exposure on human abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. Since adipose tissue contains mature adipocytes, preadipocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells such as macrophages, adipose tissue explants better represent molecular events that occur in vivo. Whole adipose tissue culture provides substantial benefits when investigating long-term gene expression of adipocytes in adipose tissue. One reason for this is that adipocyte-specific gene expression has been shown to be lost when isolated from adipose tissue (Carswell et al. 2012). Due to this, studies that have investigated the effects of bisphenols on human primary adipocytes may not precisely represent what occurs in vivo due to molecular changes that occur after isolation from adipose tissue. Widespread of bisphenols in consumer products results in nearly continuous exposure to humans. Therefore, we pre-incubated human adipose tissue for 24 and 72 h to mimic a longer exposure time. However, further studies are needed to address whether other concentrations and exposure times can induce different results.