Nylon cooking bags, plastic-lined cups can release nanoparticles into
liquids

Date:
April 21, 2022
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Nylon cooking bags and plastic-lined cardboard cups are conveniences
many people rely on, but a new study suggests that they are an
underappreciated source of nanoparticles. They report that the
plastic in these products release trillions of nanometer-sized
particles into each liter of water that they come in contact
with. That sounds like a lot, but the team notes that these levels
are under the regulatory limits for consumption.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Nylon cooking bags and plastic-lined cardboard cups are conveniences
many people rely on, but a new study in ACS' Environmental Science
& Technology suggests that they are an underappreciated source of nanoparticles. They report that the plastic in these products release
trillions of nanometer-sized particles into each liter of water that
they come in contact with. That sounds like a lot, but the team notes
that these levels are under the regulatory limits for consumption.


========================================================================== Food-grade plastics come into contact with a variety of foods and
drinks that people consume every day. For instance, nylon cooking bags
help keep food moist in the oven and make clean-up easier for slow
cookers. Likewise, plastic-lined paper cups are designed to keep liquids
hot and prevent them from leaking out.

Previous studies have shown that some plastic materials, including polypropylene baby bottles and polyethylene terephthalate tea bags, can
shed microscopic and nanoscale particles into heated liquids, though the
human health implications of ingesting these particles are unclear. So, Christopher Zangmeister and colleagues wanted to see whether food-grade
plastic films can also be a source of small plastic particles.

The researchers poured room temperature or hot water into nylon slow
cooker bags and low density polyethylene-lined cardboard cups from
different retailers. After keeping the slow cooker hot for an hour, the researchers found that 35 trillion plastic nanoparticles leached into the
liter of water in each bag. When the team put hot liquid in 12-fluid-ounce
cups for 20 minutes, 5.1 trillion plastic nanoparticles per liter leached
out. Both materials released considerably fewer nanosized particles into
room temperature water. Finally, the researchers calculated that a person
would have to drink 13 cups of hot water from a plastic-lined cup or half
a liter of water from the cooking bag to consume the equivalent of one nanoplastic particle for every seven cells in a person's body. But they
also note that the number of particles that migrated from the food-grade plastics into both the room temperature and hot water are still well
below the levels for safe human consumption, according to U.S. Food and
Drug Administration limits.

The authors received funding from the U.S. National Institute of Standards
and Technology.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Chemical_Society. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Christopher D. Zangmeister, James G. Radney, Kurt D. Benkstein, Berc
Kalanyan. Common Single-Use Consumer Plastic Products Release
Trillions of Sub-100 nm Nanoparticles per Liter into Water during
Normal Use.

Environmental Science & Technology, 2022; DOI:
10.1021/acs.est.1c06768 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220421154140.htm

--- up 7 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 51 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)