Led by a CALS grad, researchers have devised a novel strategy that exploits a vexing scientific challenge to capture valuable chemicals — including safer plastic ingredients — from common plant waste.
We’ve all heard the warning: Don’t microwave your food in plastic containers.
It’s one recommendation aimed at reducing exposure to bisphenol A, more commonly known as BPA. BPA is an industrial petrochemical that’s used to make polycarbonate plastics, the kind you commonly find in beverage bottles and food packaging, as well as epoxy resins, which often coat the inside of bottle caps and food cans.
Scientific research suggests that BPA can leach into food through these sources, and the chemical is linked to a variety of negative health effects, from neurological disorders to cardiovascular disease. But now there looks to be another way to minimize exposure to BPA.
A team of scientists, led by a CALS alum in collaboration with two CALS faculty members, has developed a plant-based alternative. Their research, published recently in the journal Nature, details a novel strategy for turning a plant biomass historically treated as waste into benign bisphenols. If successful at an industrial scale, the technology could help replace toxic petrochemicals, such as BPA, while also generating new revenue streams to make cellulosic biofuel as cheap as fossil fuels.
Read the full story: https://grow.cals.wisc.edu/priority-themes/bioenergy-and-bioproducts/from-biomass-to-bpa-preplacement