Sugar-based Alternative BPA; the Chemical that Makes Plastic

Proponents of green technology, doctors, scientists, researchers, environment experts have all raised concern over the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in plastics and plastic additives, in recent years.

Bisphenol A (via: Wikipedia)

Why?

Since the 1930s, this organic compound has been suspected to be hazardous to humans and the environment alike.

About BPA…

As mentioned above BPA is widely used in plastics and plastic additives. It is used in the lining of tin cans, and in a variety of consumer products ranging from baby bottles to nail polish.
BPA is known to have estrogenic properties. Meaning this compound can mimic the hormone, estrogen. If humans are exposed to dangerous levels of the compound it can act as an endocrine disruptor. That is it can mess up the physiologic function of the particular hormone in the human body.
The chemical bonds in BPA are also not stable and as a result it can decay with time and release small amounts into whatever it comes into contact with like food and water.

So what’s the green solution?

An alternative. A chemical derived from sugar. More precisely this material is derived from isosorbide. Corn can be used to obtain this new sugar derivative. Isosorbide of course is a sustainable chemical that can be synthesized from corn starch.

Consumers will also probably warm up to the idea quite soon since sugar-based chemicals are generally regarded as safe, renewable and also relatively cheap (as long as production doesn’t compete with the food supply).

The invention was made by,

Michael Jaffe (a professor of biomedical engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology), with the help of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB).