Styrofoam: Is it contaminating your food?

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There was a time not long ago when I thought nothing of heating or reheating my food on a Styrofoam plate in a microwave. Today I seldom microwave anything at all (the reason will be addressed in another post). Before curbing my microwave habit I stopped using Styrofoam plates in them. It seems I read something or other a few years ago about the ability of Styrofoam to leach chemicals onto the food. It turns out that heeding the advice and not using Styrofoam in the microwave was a pretty good idea. Just last month (June 2011) the US Department of Health and Human Services made a bold, yet necessary, decision to add the chemical styrene to the list of substances reasonably known to cause cancer in humans. It is has been known to cause cancer in animals for years.

Styrene is a chemical used in the production of Styrofoam, some rubber products and cigarettes. In fact the majority of exposure to styrene is thought to come from smoking or inhaling second hand smoke. Second to smoking would be the use of Styrofoam products for containing or holding foods and beverages as a chief mode of exposure. With either heat in general or the aggressive manipulation of molecules through microwaving comes the breaking down of Styrofoam allowing chemicals like styrene to attach itself to our foods.

It has been established that long term exposure to styrene through ingestion or inhalation can be very hazardous. The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for styrene explains these hazards clearly. The acute (immediate) concern for styrene exposure is that it can irritate the skin, eyes, and respiratory system causing inflammation and pain. The chronic (long term) health concerns include nervous system toxicity, upper respiratory tract toxicity, targeted organ damage and cancer.

Using Styrofoam has become a way of life for most people. If used sporadically one lessens their risk from the long term damaging effects of styrene. Avoid using Styrofoam in microwave ovens or for serving hot foods and beverages. In fact, perhaps the best advice is to avoid any use associated with food all together.

Sources:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/styrofoam-chemical-styrene-added-possible-carcinogens-list/story?id=13815600

http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9925112

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