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Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

news.unl.edu

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Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#31

Post by opportune »

dataflow wrote: post #14

As someone who avoids cooking with plastic, I've always wondered... what makes people think it's safe? Does it not occur to most people that plastics can break down through the heat they're subjected to, or do they assume the plastics in question have been specifically designed to adequately withstand that?

If it were extremely or noticeably bad for you in the short term, it would be obvious and we would know about it.

Generally I assume that I consume microscopic inedible dirt/mineral/etc particles all the time without know it and they most likely pass through my digestive system. I know of course that digestion is complex and that many of these likely are absorbed to varying degrees. I try to not cook with plastic generally but I also do not go out of my way too much to avoid it - same as me not trying to eat vegetables with dirt on them but not being anal about making sure all vegetables I consume are dirt-free

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#33

Post by elif »

dataflow wrote: post #14

As someone who avoids cooking with plastic, I've always wondered... what makes people think it's safe? Does it not occur to most people that plastics can break down through the heat they're subjected to, or do they assume the plastics in question have been specifically designed to adequately withstand that?

The problem is we have health regulatory agencies from whose lack of statement we derive an implicit assumption of safety.

Either they need to do more testing/whitelisting rather than observing/blacklisting, or there needs to be better communication about the limits of these regulators.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#34

Post by NovaDudely »

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #10
productizeme93 wrote: post #2

It's surprising to me how much we don't understand about plastic still. Years ago I was in a kitchen shop with an out of town friend and we saw some Sous Vide equipment. I told her that we had one and that you could either plastic bags or vacuum sealed bags to cook in the water. Her reaction was an immediate "absolutely not." That's when I realized that she worked in a lab that focused on plastics. Her big call out w…

First off, there are silicon sous vide bags. Second… if you are at the level that a bag with meat in it for 2 hours at 140 degrees is too risky… you had better get working on that cabin in the woods.

I work in hospitality supplies. We sell about a thousand plastic sous vide bags for every 1 silicon one. Silicon bags are basically a rounding error.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#35

Post by Aurornis »

> Rather than introduce just the number of particles released by one container, the researchers instead exposed the cells to particle concentrations that infants and toddlers might accumulate over days or from multiple sources.

> After two days, just 23% of kidney cells exposed to the highest concentrations had managed to survive

So they used concentrations that they believe toddlers might accumulate over two days and it killed 3/4 of the kidney cells?

Given that we’re not seeing toddlers around the world have kidney problems after consuming two days worth of micro plastics, let alone multiple years worth, this model doesn’t seem at all representative of real-world outcomes.

Still concerning, but when the results are so far removed from real world observations I don’t know what to make of the whole situation.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#37

Post by Vecr »

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #10
productizeme93 wrote: post #2

It's surprising to me how much we don't understand about plastic still. Years ago I was in a kitchen shop with an out of town friend and we saw some Sous Vide equipment. I told her that we had one and that you could either plastic bags or vacuum sealed bags to cook in the water. Her reaction was an immediate "absolutely not." That's when I realized that she worked in a lab that focused on plastics. Her big call out w…

First off, there are silicon sous vide bags. Second… if you are at the level that a bag with meat in it for 2 hours at 140 degrees is too risky… you had better get working on that cabin in the woods.

Are you talking about silicon or silicone? I'm confused here.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#38

Post by con »

rcme wrote: post #13

Does anyone have a link to the actual study? The article mentions there were variations based on the container and liquid, and I'd be curious to see what those differences were. Unfortunately, avoiding plastics with a child is very difficult. We never microwaved anything, and generally prefer glass bottles, but breast pumps use all plastic containers and we definitely have warmed those in hot water before.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c01942 (It's linked in the bottom right of the article)

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#39

Post by NovaDudely »

n8cpdx wrote: post #4

> then heated them at full power for three minutes in a 1,000-watt microwave This seems like unrealistic use of a microwave. The liquids are likely boiling for well over a minute. Are people really boiling liquids in the containers they’re serving their infant children? I’m not especially plastic-phobic but I also don’t think a reasonable person would think it is a good idea to boil liquids in their children’s bottle…

About 20 years ago I used to make boiled potatoes in the microwave - just had to boil in there for a good 10 minutes in a plastic container... yeah that wasn't so great.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#40

Post by bordercases »

defatigable wrote: post #21
dataflow wrote: post #14

As someone who avoids cooking with plastic, I've always wondered... what makes people think it's safe? Does it not occur to most people that plastics can break down through the heat they're subjected to, or do they assume the plastics in question have been specifically designed to adequately withstand that?

My basic mental model is that my body is constantly consuming chemicals that it doesn't use, be it particulates in the air or substances in the foods I eat or drink. My body is very good at incorporating the substances that it finds useful and ignoring (or killing) the ones that it doesn't, so I don't find myself worrying too much about any particular substance it might take up. To your point, I don't have any partic…

Willful ignorance? It's not like these studies are uncommon now.
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