As a chemical engineer who has worked in plastics manufacturing and has a degree in bioprocess engineering...The statements made by 'UniverseHacker seemed pretty reasonable.
The main point of contention for me is rather than establishing all HDPE as 'safe', it might be worth mentioning that some HDPE may have other chemicals added to it which could be harmful. Most HDPE doesn't have plasticizers like phtalates/etc added, but it's not completely unheard of. Some HDPE has been analyzed to contain ethylbenzene, xylenes, etc. And some HDPE is partially fluorinated.
Any thoughts on how to identify which HDPEs have those things as a regular consumer, without mass spec? I'd assume they add those to get specific properties for specific applications and knowing the application and/or that an expert could tell from simply looking at or feeling the material? This is stuff hard to figure out as an academic, because it seems to be mostly internal industry knowledge.
The main point of contention for me is rather than establishing all HDPE as 'safe', it might be worth mentioning that some HDPE may have other chemicals added to it which could be harmful. Most HDPE doesn't have plasticizers like phtalates/etc added, but it's not completely unheard of. Some HDPE has been analyzed to contain ethylbenzene, xylenes, etc. And some HDPE is partially fluorinated.
https://www.pfasinsights.com/2024/01/u-s-epa-seeks-to-elimin...