Environmental Question #15 [Plastic Food Containers]

Courtesy of Reddit user u/Avalanc89

Q:  It's that true you shouldn't heat up ANY plastic container because stuff that made plastics bonds breaks up and contaminate food?  

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A: Technically yes, but practically no. Any two materials that touch each other will rub off on each other to some extent. If you cut your food on a wooden cutting board with a metal knife then eat it off a ceramic plate, then your food is technically "contaminated" with wood, metal, and ceramic when you eat it. Of course that isn't a problem because all of those materials pass through your body harmlessly.

You might notice in the news surrounding microplastics that lots of fearmongering articles talk about how we have microplastics in all different parts of our bodies, but those articles usually don't have anything to say about whether the presence of plastic in our bodies actually causes any problems. I am absolutely not saying that microplastics are a good thing, they are bad and most likely poisonous, but if they are toxic they must not be very toxic or else we would be able to trace specific diseases back to microplastic exposure by now.

What this boils down to is that while it is probably slightly safer to avoid heating food in plastic, that doesn't mean you need to throw away all your plastic containers right now. Your health is not at serious risk from using them, so in the spirit of anti-consumption, use your plastic containers until they wear out, then replace them with glass containers when the time comes. 

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