If plastic is just complex chains of carbon, why are there concerns of toxic chemicals being released when it touches food or is accidentally burned/consumed?
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Carbon can form toxic chemicals, such as Carbon and Nitrogen forming cyanide, and similar compounds.
This is just one extreme example, there are less toxic, but still dangerous chemicals that plastics can form. Especially when burned.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide
First off: “Chains of carbon” isn’t entirely true. They’re a mix of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and some other elements. However, carbon forms the bulk by mass.
But also: “chains of carbon” can be VERY dangerous. Many vegetable poisons are carbon chains. Some animal poisons are – though more are polypeptides or proteins. The larger issue with plastics though is that if the results are similar to human-made chains of carbon, they can confuse or interfere with human biological processes – which is the real issue.
Hytrocarbons can be cancer causing. Benzine is C6H6, a ring of 6 carbons with 6 hydrogens. Carbon isn’t a magic, non-toxic, element.
Plastic is not just the polymer, there are lots of additives to give specific characteristics like flexibility, UV resistance, color, flame resistance, processing aids, biocides, etc. There are over 10,000 chemicals that are used in plastic manufacturing ([source](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.1c00976)).
The molecules are not stable. They “react” and change. When carbon-based molecules are in flux because of heat or sunlight or exposure to other chemicals, the bits and pieces “recombine” in odd ways and sometimes they form bad stuff. If nine of them form something that’s not really that bad, and “only” one of them forms into something that causes cancer…cancer multiplies rapidly and takes over.
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