Plastic bottles, containers and dishes have become a part of our daily lives. But not all housewives have complete information about the degree of harm plastic does to the human body.
The most common plastics are polyvinyl chloride PVC , polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, and polycarbonate. They are used to make both technical plastic and food plastic.
Plastic plates deteriorate from additives
Polymers themselves are inert, non-toxic and do not âmigrateâ into food. But intermediates, processing aids, solvents, and chemical breakdown products can penetrate food and have toxic effects on humans.
This can happen when food is stored or when it is heated. In addition, polymeric materials are subject to change aging , which releases harmful substances. And different kinds of plastic become toxic under different conditions â some cannot be heated, others cannot be washed.
Polyvinyl chloride is a chlorine-based polymer. It is cheap, so it is ubiquitous throughout the world. PVC is used to make beverage bottles, cosmetics cases, containers for household chemicals, and disposable dishes.
As PVC begins to age, it begins to release the harmful substance vinyl chloride, which is carcinogenic. Naturally, from the bottle it goes into the soda, from the plate into the food, and from there â directly into the human body.
PVC bottles start releasing this dangerous substance about a week after they have been filled. A few milligrams of vinyl chloride accumulates in the mineral water after a month. From the point of view of oncology specialists, this is a great deal.
Plastic bottles are often reused, filled with tea or morsels, and even alcoholic beverages. At markets, milk and butter are sold in plastic bottles, and at summer cottages large five-liter bottles are often used to store water and other drinks.
But the experts are unanimous: it is impossible to refill water bottles with anything but water. And not all of them. Only PET-bottles can be reused. From PVC bottles t. e. PVC bottles emit toxic chloro-vinyl. Such bottles should have a special sign on the bottom: a triplet in a triangle.
A harmful container can also be recognized by the buildup on the bottom. It comes in the form of a line or a spear with two ends. But the surest way is to press the bottle with your fingernail. If the container is dangerous, it leaves a whitish scar. The âcorrectâ bottle stays smooth.
However, many experts believe that any bottled plastic retains its neutrality only in the absence of oxygen access, that is, as long as the water retains its original chemical composition. Once the bottle is opened, the water quickly changes its properties, after which the plastic inevitably changes its properties.
The first time, itâs a dish the second time, itâs a poison
With the advent of disposable plastic dishes we all have become its active users. In fact itâs very convenient not to carry heavy bags on picnics and have a pack or two of disposable cups, spoons, forks and plates of different sizes.
Plastics alone are seldom harmful to humans. But to make them more durable, special stabilizing agents are added to the plastic during manufacturing. These are the main health hazards for users.
It turns out that polystyrene, from which most disposable tableware is made, becomes toxic when heated because of the emitted toxic compound âstyrene. So, once you pour a hot drink or put a hot dish in a cup, it can no longer be called safe. And after all plates from polystyrene PS are often used in summer cafes for barbeque or even hot soup.
Plastic disposable cups made of polypropylene label PP are âindifferentâ to hot liquids and do not emit any harmful substances when heated. But they have another property: when in contact with alcohol or carbonated drinks in general with any complex chemical compounds , such cups can release formaldehyde or phenol. So, you can drink water from such a glass, but you shouldnât drink vodka.
To be safe, plastic tableware should be used strictly for its intended purpose. Different brands of food plastic have different properties. One brand of this polymeric raw material is designed for the production of water bottles, the other â for bottles with carbonated beverages.
Yogurt cups are made of a brand of plastic that can be molded to make a lightweight and inexpensive container that is neutral for milk fat, while pudding cups must resist sugar.
Therefore, experts insist: in no case can you use plastic packaging as a container for storing food, and disposable tableware â repeatedly.
How plastic reacts to contact with ingredients for which it was not intended, what compounds may form, no one has studied. Especially fats and acids are tricky, since they can pull free toxic compounds out of plastics.
There is one more important point. Before secondary use, the plastic container should be washed. The disposable packaging, on the other hand, was not meant to be washed, so the result is unpredictable. Release from plastic all kinds of compounds many times amplified when heated. For this reason, only special containers should be used in the microwave.
If you occasionally buy convenience foods which require only a few minutes warming up in the microwave or oven, donât be lazy â put the food into ceramic or enamel dishes and then heat them. The flavor will not change, but health hazards can be avoided: manufacturers often go to various tricks to make certain products cheaper.
The exception is for frozen meals in trays: meals in these can be heated in the microwave or oven because they are made of crystallized polyethylene terephthalate. The properties of this compound remain unchanged from -40° to +250 C.
True, some brands can lose the necessary heat resistance after being subjected to deep refrigeration. By the way, if the marking indicates that the dishes are dishwasher-safe, then they are also dishwasher-safe.
Plastic code
Once upon a time, a special international labeling was developed to simplify the sorting of plastics: triangles formed by arrows with a number inside. The number indicates the type of plastic. Instead of a number or under the triangle at the same time as the number you can find the letter code of the plastic:
PET: bottles for carbonated soft drinks, water, juice, dairy products, cooking oils, cosmetics, etc. p.
HDP: high-density polyethylene: sacks, trash bags.
PVC: Polyvinyl chloride: building and decorating materials, furniture, shoes, medical products, water bottles, food packaging
LDPE: Low Density Polyethylene: detergent bottles, toys, pipes
PP: Polypropylene: medical devices, dishes for hot dishes, food packaging film
PS: polystyrene: disposable dishes, dairy cups, yogurt cups, electrical insulation film.
A glass and fork and a snowball
According to the Law âOn Protection of Consumer Rights,â any manufacturer is required to label their products. Food-grade plastic is commonly labeled with a âglass and forkâ icon. The item may be labeled as intended for cold, bulk, or hot foods, for microwave or freezer use, sometimes specifying the temperature range within which the item can be used.
âSnowflakesâ indicate that the container is suitable for freezing food, âoven with wavesâ â that in this utensil you can heat food in the microwave, and âplates under the showerâ indicates that the containers can be washed in the dishwasher.
All kinds of plastic materials used for food contact are subject to obligatory examination for compliance with sanitary and hygienic norms. But at the same time is checked for compliance with the declared purpose: that is, if the manufacturer specifies that the product is made of plastic designed to hold potable water, then it is checked as a container for drinking water.
How to pack to save
All packaging materials, even the most modern ones, have certain restrictions on use in the home. For example, film-covered foods should not be heated in the microwave except in the cases specifically mentioned on the package .
Heating, as with disposable cups, can release potentially harmful chemicals from the polyethylene. For the same reason, do not cover very hot food with the film, moreover, moisture will actively concentrate under it, which may lead to loss of flavor qualities of the product.
Do not put wax paper, a type of thin wrapping paper covered with a thin layer of paraffin, in the microwave or oven. It is usually used to cover the surface of thick creams, puddings, cottage cheese to prevent a dry crust.
Aluminum foil is an almost safe type of packaging material that does a good job of protecting foods from moisture loss. It does not matter whether the foil touches the food on the smooth or matte side.
Food wrapped in foil should not be heated in a microwave oven â but not because of the potential harm of heated foil, but because of the ban on placing metal and metal-containing objects in a microwave oven.
Recently, we have been storing food in plastic containers more and more often: they are convenient for taking prepared meals with us to work or to visit. The only restriction was mentioned above: avoid heating the plastic. To do this, you must put the food into a regular container before heating on the stove, and vice versa, do not put the food that is still hot into the container.
Glass containers, unlike plastic ones, are perfectly safe to use, as long as you donât break them. Glass is more practical and durable than plastic and is easier to clean. Before putting food in glass containers for long term storage in the freezer, or putting a dish in the oven, check if the specified brand of glass can withstand higher or lower temperatures.
Ceramic containers preserve foods for a long time and help neutralize odors of strongly smelling foods e.g., salt and pepper . Cannot be used in the oven or cooked on the stove unless labeled âoven safeâ or âmicrowave safe.
I would like to say a few more words about cans â because it is also a peculiar type of food packaging. To prevent metal contact with food, the inner surface of cans is usually lined with plastic film containing biphenol.
As the product ages, so does the polymer material the packaging is made of, releasing toxic biphenol, which can transfer to the contents of the can. This is why it is so important to observe the shelf life of products â it refers not only to the product itself but also to the packaging.
And it is better in general to reduce the consumption of canned food to a minimum, and when you open a can immediately shift the food into glass or ceramic dishes. After all, under the influence of oxygen, the corrosion of the surface of the canner increases, and the content of toxic substances begins to increase.
American scientists claim that up to 80% of the âplasticâ substances found in the human body come from building and finishing materials, in particular the so popular plastic windows, furniture, but most of all from tableware: from food plastic all sorts of compounds pass into the food.
Table 1: Recommended storage times for some foods in the refrigerator
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Table 2: Recommended storage times for foods outside the refrigerator
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