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Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

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Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#91

Post by Panzer04 »

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?

What makes you think it's unsafe? The amount of people using it without obvious problems indicates it's not obviously unsafe, and presumably most people just go with the flow (as I do - I'd assume that if there were problems it would have been found over the preceding decades of use)

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#92

Post by joecool1029 »

con wrote: post #38
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)

It's still loginwalled/paywalled from there. Not all of us have institution access.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#93

Post by an_aparallel »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #77
giantg2 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Soft silicon products still contain plastic polymers.

Wait, really? Like baby bottle nipples?

Yeah - can you provide some more info about this? i use silcon trays - and i always thought they were too good to be true tbh

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#94

Post by Panzer04 »

parentheses wrote: post #69

I absolutely despise microwaves. It comes from a (seemingly) irrational fear of my dad's - formerly a trained chemist, but also just a smart guy. 1. I feel that as with many products, microwaves are also maximized for perceived customer happiness - this means food hot ASAP. So, they're probably pushing out the legal maximum of energy in microwave form. "Better" microwaves are probably worse for this. 2. I notice a di…

What's wrong with microwaves? Aside from their mechanism of heating, what do they do differently to food to anything else? Arguably they get the outsides of some foods much hotter than otherwise, but I'm not sure how true that might really be - we regularly cook loads of other foods at very high temperatures in ovens or pans.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#95

Post by dataflow »

Panzer04 wrote: post #91
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?

What makes you think it's unsafe? The amount of people using it without obvious problems indicates it's not obviously unsafe, and presumably most people just go with the flow (as I do - I'd assume that if there were problems it would have been found over the preceding decades of use)

Unless your philosophy is "I will put anything in my mouth that isn't proven to be unsafe", I don't think that's the right way to look at it? It's not that I see it as "unsafe" (at least not obviously so), but rather that I don't see it as "safe", either. "An [obviously] unnecessary risk" is probably a better phrasing, because it seems like its safety isn't really well-understood at this time. Why take the risk when you can just spend a few seconds transferring food onto a plate or something?

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#96

Post by e4325f »

nashashmi wrote: post #90

Avoid excess microwaving plastic containers. And don't keep old plastic wares for too long. Change them periodically (annual for permanent wares, 2 months for disposable wares). I only microwave 30 sec, frown on microwaving more than a minute. My wife microwaves for 2 minutes or more! The latter is a problem because I know (some of) the food gets unevenly hot (while the other parts are still cold) that it melts the p…

Well it's not going to melt the plastic being evenly cold after 30 seconds.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#97

Post by 3cats-in-a-coat »

I think we need more studies into how plastic is useful in the body. Seriously though, how many do we have? It's a hidden bias. We were so convinced cigarettes are good for sore throat and anxiety, that we forgot to test for harm, for decades. Maybe plastic is the other way around.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#98

Post by chrisco255 »

I'm one of the most skeptical people when it comes to these types of claims. I think the effects are being exaggerated. However, I've recently begun to replace all plastic containers and dishware from my kitchen with stainless steel and glass. Drinks taste better in glass anyways, and steel is a good non-fragile alternative. And I cook in cast iron. It's almost impossible to avoid plastic, and I'm not religious about it, but I figure I'm replacing fragile disposable junk with more robust alternatives anyways.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#99

Post by scotty79 »

TylerE wrote: post #80
productizeme93 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First off there weren't silicon Sous Vide bags back then and the general attitude was "stick it in a plastic bag" and it will be fine. Second, this is coming from someone that works in a research lab in plastics. So pretty well educated. Anything else you want to be condescending and dismissive about? I'm sure we'd all appreciate hearing more about how you know better than the rest of us and please - make sure you le…

The sad thing about people like GP is they'll spread stuff like that for 40 years, and then become silent once they get cancer, COPD, or whatever that quite possibly was at least influenced by their lifestyle decisions. Sorta like those construction workers that are full of bravado at 25, and can barely get out of a chair at 50 because they wrecked their body with improper lifting technique.

I think if you work for 25 years in construction you are bound to wreck your body regardless of what you do. It's hard to not wreck your body in that span of time even if you only do yoga and meditate for that long.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#100

Post by scotty79 »

tohnjitor wrote: post #74
userbinator wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you had better get working on that cabin in the woods. ...where you use a wood stove and inhale far more proven carcinogens instead?

Surely the cabin has a chimney.

Stuff gets everywhere
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