Is it true that Styrofoam Food Containers Can Cause Cancer?
How often do you use Styrofoam as a food container? Although it is very practical and cheap, the use of Styrofoam is said to cause cancer and various other chronic diseases. Is it true? What are the dangers of Styrofoam as a food container, and whether we can prevent it
The dangers of stytofoam come from its basic ingredients
Styrofoam is arguably included in a group of plastics that are often used as food or beverage containers. Many people use Styrofoam as a container because it is cheap and practical to use. But the side effects are bad enough.
Styrofoam contains several chemicals that are believed to be dangerous to human health. Some of them are benzene and styrene which have been shown to cause cancer.
Even the world health agency, the World Health Organization has stated that benzene is a chemical that is carcinogenic, or can cause the growth of cancer cells in the body. While the facts for styrene, not much different from benzene, this substance also has a bad impact on health.
Factors that can make food contaminated with chemicals in Styrofoam
In fact, the dangers of Styrofoam come from contaminating styrene in your food. The transfer of this substance depends on several things, namely:
- Food temperature. The higher the temperature of the food in the Styrofoam, the easier it will be for the styrene substances to move to the food. Therefore, avoid using Styrofoam in heating food, or for storing food in hot temperatures.
- Duration of contact with food. The longer you store food in Styofoam, the more dangerous it will be for your health.
- High dietary fat. Foods that have a high fat content will get more styrene contamination than foods that have less fat. Even so, until now experts do not know exactly why dietary fat affects the transfer of styrene into your diet.
Styrofoam food containers on the market are generally safe
Even so, WHO states that styrene will not pose a health hazard if it does not exceed 5000 ppm in the body. Meanwhile, food packaging or styrofoam, which is often used to store food, only releases about 0.05 ppm of styrene.
Therefore, the Indonesian Drug Supervisory Agency states that Styrofoam is safe to use for food.
What health problems can occur due to styrene contamination?
The dangers of Styrofoam are indeed caused by the transfer of chemicals in Styrofoam to your food. some things that may be experienced if the transfer of the substance occurs:
- Causes disorders of the nervous system
- Experiencing headaches
- Increases the risk of leukemia and lymphoma
- Can interfere with fetal development and growth and cause birth defects
How to prevent the dangers of Styrofoam from food containers?
Indeed, Styrofoam has been declared safe for use. But the dangers of Styrofoam can still lurk you if you don’t pay attention to things that can increase styrene contamination. Here’s how to prevent the dangers of Styrofoam that you often use:
- Don’t use Styrofoam over and over again. Use it only for one time use.
- Avoid using Styrofoam for hot food.
- Do not use Styrofoam as a container for food to be heated.
- Avoid direct contact with Styrofoam, you can give plastic or rice paper as a base of styrofoam.
- If the food is acidic, contains a lot of fat or alcohol, then you should avoid using Styrofoam.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.