Chemicals in Plastic Found to Induce Fat Cell Development

Research out of Norway suggests chemicals that leach out of everyday plastic items like kitchen sponges and yoghurt containers induce precursor cells to differentiate into fat cells. The findings suggest exposure to plastics may play an underestimated role in the obesity epidemic.

The group first evaluated 34 different plastic products and found over 55,000 chemical components, 629 of which they identified. Eleven of the identified compounds were known metabolism-disrupting chemicals.

The team also found that one-third of the plastic products contained substances that reprogrammed precursor cells to become fat cells. Some of these plastic products, however, did not contain known chemicals previously linked to metabolic effects, such as phthalates and bisphenols. “It’s very likely that it is not the usual suspects, such as Bisphenol A, causing these metabolic disturbances. This means that other plastic chemicals than the ones we already know could be contributing to overweight and obesity,” says lead author Johannes Völker of the Department of Biology at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Experts previously thought most chemicals in plastics remained within the material. Martin Wagner, an associate professor in NTNU’s Department of Biology, and colleagues recently demonstrated, however, that plastic products leach a large number of chemicals under real world conditions. Prior research has also found that some plastics contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals that may affect our development and fertility.  “Our experiments show that ordinary plastic products contain a mix of substances that can be a relevant and underestimated factor behind overweight and obesity,” Wagner says.

The results of the latest study, entitled, “Adipogenic Activity of Chemicals Used in Plastic Consumer Products,” have been published in Environmental Science & Technology. Partners from Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany also contributed to the work.