Eating in Plastic

We have previously discussed plastic bottles and their environmental impact and also about avoiding cling wraps for food storage. All research material carefully describe effects of plastic as "does not seem to pose a health risk" and "may cause cancer". And fortunately a lot of people still live seemingly healthy lives despite frequently eating from plastic take-out boxes. Then again, this is also the largest exposure to plastic that humankind has ever had till date, making it a mega scale live experiment!

The Geneva Environment Network showed the following trend in global plastic production in 2013. As per Statista, 10 years later, the annual global production of plastic indeed reached 400.3 million tons in 2022.

To make informed decisions on how much plastic we would like in our lives, it's important to consider all aspects of using plastic food containers - not limited to existence of carcinogenic properties. Let's understand 3 plastics frequently used to make food containers.

If you know all this already, feel free to skip over to “Swapping out Plastic boxes for Sustainable Alternatives” section below. But first, a ‘reel’ fun one -

What is Styrofoam plastic?

• Styrofoam (Polystyrene) is a single use plastic made of sweet smelling styrene. It is light, brittle and does not really biodegrade in the foreseeable future.

• It melts at 100°C and so is easily moulded into various forms like cups for coffee, boxes for take-out food and packaging material for goods.

• It’s manufacturing requires the use of styrene and benzene which when released produce ground-level ozone, a hazardous air pollutant. 

• It breaks and flows away easily creating marine debris affecting animal life.

• As of December 2023, only 11 US states have passed laws to phase out plastic foam.

The CDC enumerates all the side effects of styrene especially relevant in the manufacturing phase. Styrene was added as a carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) in 2011. Styrofoam is currently banned in 68 countries. But it is still in the process of being phased out in the US!

What is PET plastic?

• Polyethylene Terephthalate is a transparent, impact-resistant, lightweight recyclable plastic that melts at 250°C.

• Being FDA approved and food grade, it is widely used to bottle beverages and other liquids.

• It does not use BPA.

• It is manufactured using non-renewable petroleum and crude oil, put through an energy intensive polymerization process and then built into various forms.

• Today only ~15% of PET plastics get recycled annually.

PET plastics leach hormone deregulating chemicals called Pthalates even at room temperature. Heating this plastic to 45°C or higher leaches antimony trioxide - a toxic and potentially carcinogenic compound. The plastics also degrade into micro and nano plastics. As per this research paper, as these particles latch on to toxic chemicals themselves, they can become a medium for this toxicity to enter our body when we consume from plastic food containers.

The cumulative implications of micro plastics and nano plastics entering the human body is still under study. However, toxic emissions during production and consumption of PET plastics, water pollution and antimony contamination are already well established facts.

What is HDPE plastic?

• Polypropylene plastic or High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) is durable, heat resistant, light weight and robust.

• It is currently admissible as reusable, sterilizable and microwavable too. It’s used in milk jugs, grocery bags and widely used in the food services industry.

• It is recyclable, but supposed to be examined by the FDA on a case-by-case basis before reuse.

• It is derived from ethylene – petrochemical, put through high pressure polymerization and eventually melted to build into its final form.

• Unfortunately only 10% HDPE plastics are recycled annually.

HDPE’s carbon footprint is lower because the source for ethylene is increasingly shifting to renewable sources like biomass or sugarcane and the plastic can be recycled. Recycling food containers requires cleaning out the container well before putting into the correct recycling bin.

Additionally, it's important to question what "safe" means in "microwave-safe" plastic. Who is it safe for?

As it turns out, microwaving an HDPE container is safe for the container. The plastic container will not lose form or soften. It certainly does NOT mean the food is completely safe. Even HDPE plastics leach chemicals into food it holds exposing us to endocrine affecting toxic compounds among others.

Swapping out Plastic boxes for Sustainable Alternatives

Although they began only in the 1950's, plastics are inescapable today in 2024. Plastics have helped great advancements in transport, medicine, electronics, construction. However, our inability to appropriately manage disposal of generated plastic is our biggest failure here. Relying on recycling alone is not remediating the core issue. We also need to switch to better alternatives that are safer for people, and reduce our reliance on this substance itself.

A 2020 study showed standard plastic baby bottles, that were cleaned following the international sterilization guidelines, shed 1.5 million microplastics in a day! The health effect of ingesting microplastics continues to be under study.

Studies have shown that all plastics release over 8700 chemicals, many of which are toxic. This leaching process accelerates particularly when plastics come into contact with heat. These toxic chemicals adversely affect physiological, hormonal and environmental well-being. There are a good percentage of chemicals whose effects on human health have not even been studied! And let's not forget that plastics are derived from non-renewable fossil fuels. So not only is their existence detrimental to the environment, their manufacture and consumption does pose a health risk to human and animal life on the planet.

When it comes to consuming food from plastic boxes, I do believe those of us who don't have the appetite for a seemingly risky "dance-off" with plastics can certainly lead the way switching to eco-friendly alternatives like paper (not lined with plastic), glass, stainless steel and ceramic boxes to store leftover food at home. Food grade platinum silicone containers are also gaining popularity as reusable alternatives since they are more stable and eco-friendly than plastics.

* Switch to using glass, ceramic or steel boxes at home, to stop heating food in plastic.
* Carry a couple of reusable boxes for leftovers when you dine in at your favorite restaurant.
* Request your favorite local restaurant to switch to paper take-out boxes. Businesses rely on happy customers!