3 minutes Heating makes the Plastic lunch boxes releasing billions of plastic particles!!!

3 minutes Heating makes the Plastic lunch boxes releasing billions of plastic particles!!!

Bottled water, disposable tableware, prepackaged food, some household supplies… As plastics gradually “surround” humans, scientists are turning more and more attention to “plastics and their products.”

People will not “eat” plastic directly. But food packaging and plastic products will send a large number of plastic particles into human beings. For example, plastic bottles, food packaging bags, etc.,

Convenience and speed have become “synonymous” with plastic products, so people are increasingly dependent on them. Plastic has gradually “invaded” the earth and has already penetrated into every aspect of people’s lives, even some small corners.

What did the Science and Technology Research found?

A research team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology found trillions of plastic nanoparticles detected per liter of water when we place a cup of 100°C water in an ordinary take-out coffee cup and left to stand for 20 minutes, we can found that . In other words, when you enjoy a 500ml cup of hot coffee or hot milk tea, 500 billion plastic nanoparticles will enter your body!

Scientists have found that microwave heating causes plastic containers and reusable food bags to release the most microplastics and nanoplastics into food compared to other methods such as refrigeration or room temperature storage! The Environmental Science Technology published the result on June 21, 2023.

The study found that what is even more surprising is that only 3 minutes of microwave heating can cause a 1cm^2 plastic container to release up to 4.22 million microplastics and 2.11 billion nanoplastic particles. Of course, we should not take it lightly. Refrigeration and room temperature storage for more than 6 months will also release millions or even billions of microplastics and nanoplastics, but they are not as fast as microwave heating.

What caused the release of Plastic particles?

In fact, the amount of plastic particles released into food from plastic food containers is affected by multiple factors, including inherent plastic properties (such as material type, structure, copolymers and initial plastic particle size) and external factors (such as pH, temperature, oxygen and light, etc.).

After comparing different usage scenarios, researchers found that compared with refrigeration, room temperature, and high-temperature storage, microwave heating released the largest number of plastic particles for 3 minutes.

During the microwave heating process, two different baby food containers made of polypropylene, container 1 released 425,000 microplastics and 169 million nanomicroplastics/cm^2, while container 2 released 4.22 million microplastics and 1.21 billion nanoplastics/cm^2. Far more than the amount of plastic particles released under refrigeration, room temperature and high temperature conditions.

Why more plastic particles released?

The researchers explained that the reason why the microware heating release more plastic particles? That is because hydrolysis, thermal degradation and ultraviolet radiation degradation occur simultaneously. At the same time, the electromagnetic waves released by microwave ovens can penetrate plastic materials and heat the inside of the container. The increase in food temperature will further increase the release of microplastics and nanoplastics from plastic containers.

In other words, you should avoid using plastic containers as much as possible. Even “food-grade” plastic containers. At the same time, it is best to reduce the use of plastic products to hold or store food.