Array of compounds found in plastics promote fat cell formation in vitro

Everyday plastic products contain huge numbers of compounds, including metabolism disrupting chemicals (MDCs) that affect fat cells, a study suggests. It found that one-third of the chemicals in 34 plastic consumer products disrupted the development of fat precursor cells in vitro. The new study adds weight to the obesogen hypothesis that environmental chemicals contribute to obesity.

To test the impact of chemicals found in a range of common commercial plastics they were treated with methanol and the chemicals that leached from them were concentrated into dimethyl sulfoxide. The chemicals were then characterised using non-target high resolution mass spectrometry. As many as 55,000 unknown chemicals were detected (although this figure is likely an overestimate given how it was reached) and 629 unique compounds tentatively identified from the 34 plastic products. Eleven compounds were known MDCs, and compounds isolated included organophosphates and phthalates, which are already known to drive fat gain in cell and animal experiments. Phthalates are used to soften plastics for packaging and organophosphates as flame retardants in electronics making them a ubiquitous part of modern life