I understand the desire of beekeepers lacking reserves of drawn comb to turn to synthetic comb. But as you all have pointed out, there are concerns associated with putting synthetic comb into colonies.

Having come of age as a beekeeper in the Dark Ages post Varroa and pre-synthetic beeswax comb, I had to learn some simple and inexpensive methods to support queen breeding (provisioning all those new colonies with comb) and honestly, I think those methods are still best.

Two bits of info provided me with tools and reassurance:

1. Applying a nice thick coat of beeswax to bought plastic foundation.
I could not, with arthritic thumbs, manage wax foundation and the wiring required. And I had noted that bees are reluctant to draw upon commercial plastic foundation readily. Enter the blog "The Beeyard" by Eric of the Beekeepers of the Susquehanna Valley. Eric found that bees quickly draw out foundation painted with some beeswax:
https://thebeeyard.org/should-you-add-wax-to-plastic-foundation-yes/
Note 1: when I do not generate enough wax from my own bees I do buy 10 lb. cakes of beeswax and use that to paint my bare foundation. I was concerned about contaminants and disease but so far no issues.
Note 2: this is an easy and relatively inexpensive thing for new beekeepers to do

2. Having to do apiary wide shook swarms last spring in late May to control a massive EFB/AFB outbreak (which did not involve newly waxed foundation so the bought wax was not the culprit), we found that colonies turned out onto bare equipment in a nectar flow (here at that time it was hawthorn) not only drew out comb like lightning (and I did not have time to wax most of that foundation), they went into a brood rearing frenzy, raising far more brood than they would have left on their original combs. Hmmmm. Something to study and exploit...certainly a great way to generate some nicely build comb in a hurry, and create a reserve supply of drawn comb.
Note: advising new beekeepers to do shook swarms is asking a lot, OTOH they would probably benefit most from this process as they have no reserves of drawn comb...

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