The more chemists I have spoken to over the years, the more I hear warnings about polymers in general. Seems as though, that in general structure simply cannot be manufactured in a way that is innocuous to our health.
It is plausible that plastic will be the next tobacco/leaded gasoline. Time will tell however.
I have wondered about carbon steel and cast iron for cooking. The common method is to "season" them for use. But that is done with fats and high heat? What is the stuff that forms? Is it also some type of polymer? It doesn't seem to survive acidic environment too well. So acids could break it down, is it actually safe to eat? Or something comparable to plastics?
My background is cooking not chemistry, but I suspect there's a lot more to that process. IIRC the iron is a catalyst for oxidation in a particular way that affects the resulting polymer. Then the polymer is carbonized by the very high heat process.
This all happens in the same "step" of seasoning, over time, but when learning to season I was taught it was several distinct things that had to be allowed time to run their course.
Pans where the seasoning was done at too low a temp or aborted early, usually both to avoid smoke, have a distinctly tacky or even sticky feel to their surface. This is probably the more straightforward polymer you're thinking of. I believe these actually handle acid better though. When you get the acid reaction it's definitely the iron part of the seasoning involved. Tastes like old coins.
I have no idea about this stuff but wouldn't it be fair to say that those ... byproducts.. haven't been found in humans, so at least it isn't comparable to plastics?
It is plausible that plastic will be the next tobacco/leaded gasoline. Time will tell however.