Heating plastic containers may release millions of tiny plastic particles
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A study from Nebraska suggests that heating plastic food containers in the microwave can cause them to shed very small plastic particles into the food, especially with certain containers used for baby food. In laboratory experiments, these particles were also linked to harm in cultured kidney cells, raising questions about possible health effects. Researchers stress that more work is needed to understand what this means for real-world exposure, but it may be wise to avoid microwaving food in plastic when possible.
Source
Kazi Albab Hussain, Svetlana Romanova, Ilhami Okur, Dong Zhang, Jesse Kuebler, Xi Huang, Bing Wang, Lucia Fernandez-Ballester, Yongfeng Lu, Mathias Schubert, and Yusong Li. Assessing the Release of Microplastics and Nanoplastics from Plastic Containers and Reusable Food Pouches: Implications for Human Health. Environmental Science & Technology 2023 57 (26), 9782-9792. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c01942.
Additional Reading
https://news.unl.edu/article/nebraska-study-finds-billions-of-nanoplastics-released-when-microwaving
https://www.aol.com/doesn-t-much-microplastics-leach-170340119.html