Most of people don’t want to use plastic cup to drink. They think plastic is with toxic. The reason why people are fear once refer to plastic is inseparable from the improvement of public environmental safety awareness in recent years. They resist chemical products because they think green and environmentally friendly is most important characteristics of products, it is also an extreme. Taking plastic cups as an example, the vast of people think that plastic cups are harmful to health, but do everyone know what the “plastic cup” is made of in fact?
How to judge the material of the plastic cup? It is very easy— seeing the bottom of the cup. The bottom of it will show an triangle recycling logo with arrow. It means that the cup is recyclable. The number at the bottom is to show the material. Next, I will analyze the materials corresponding to different numbers. It is to understand what are the characteristics of various “plastic cups” that everyone fears.
What are the materials of plastic?
“01”-PET (polyethylene terephthalate). Commonly used for making water bottles and beverage bottles. Features: This material is heat-resistant up to 70 ° C, it is not suitable for holding hot water, heating and exposure, otherwise it may produce harmful substances to human body. Recommendation: Dispose of such bottles when they are used up, and do not use them as drinking water containers.
02″-HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). Commonly used to make plastic containers for cleaning and bath products. Most plastic bags used in supermarkets are also made of this. Features: Withstand temperature can be up to 110 ℃, can be reused after careful cleaning, but it is usually not easy to clean, easy to leave the original cleaning supplies, thus becoming a hotbed of bacteria. Suggestion: Such bottles are not cleaned thoroughly, it would be better that don’t recycle them. Are not used to be a water glass, don’t use it to hold food.
“03″ —PVC (polyvinyl chloride). It is often used to make shoes, raincoats, building materials, plastic pipes and etc. It is rarely used to make food packaging. Features: Excellent plasticity, cheap price, heat resistance up to 81 ℃. It is easy to produce harmful substances at high temperature, difficult to clean and easy to remain. Suggestion: Do not use this kind of plastic packaging food, and do not recycle. If you need to use it, you should avoid heating it, and it should never be used as a drinking cup.
04″-LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) It is usually used to make cling film. Features: Heat resistance is not strong. Generally, qualified PE cling film will appear hot-melt when the temperature is up to 110 ℃, leaving some plastic preparations that the human body cannot decompose. And, wrap the food with plastic wrap then heat, the fat in the food can easily dissolve the harmful substances in the plastic wrap. Recommendation: When using a microwave to heat food, firstly, remove the wrapped plastic wrap.
“05”-PP (polypropylene). Commonly used for making microwave meal boxes and drinking glasses. Features: resistant high temperature up to 130 ℃, with good thermal stability, it is the only plastic box that can be heated in microwave oven, and can be reused after careful cleaning. Suggestion: PP cups are currently very reliable plastic cups and can be used with confidence.
“06”-PS (polystyrene). It is usually used to make instant noodle bowl and foamed fast food boxes. Features: Heat and cold resistance, but can not be placed in the microwave oven since it will release chemicals under excessive temperature. It will release acid and alkaline substances. Polystyrene, which is harmful to human body, can be decomposed in acid and alkali environment, which is easy to cause cancer. Recommendation: Try to avoid packing hot food in fast food boxes, do not use fast food boxes to contain acidic drinks such as orange juice, and do not put fast food boxes directly in the microwave to heat them.
“07″-PC and other categories.Commonly used in manufacturing baby bottles, space cups and etc. It is controversial because of the content of bisphenol A . The higher the temperature of bisphenol A remaining in PC, the more it is released and the faster the speed it will also be. In fact, the harm of bisphenol A is not as great as the we heard. The animal experiments have been completed and that proves the harm is directed to the development stage. The producing of PC requires a dry environment, washing and precipitation will be performed in the final stage of the synthesis to remove unreacted bisphenol A and salts. Although PC products may be in contact with water for a long time using, they will not decompose and produce bisphenol A below the maximum temperature specified for the container. Recommendation: Children and pregnant women should avoid using such water cups, and try not to use PC cups for hot water.
Plastic cups in different materials are applied to different products, the plastic cups are used for a long time and some small cracks appear, they should be replaced in time. Because these small cracks means the plastic cup material has begun to age, the stability of the cup material is reduced, and the small cracks are not easy to clean, and it is easy to breed microorganisms which is not conducive to health.
As a professional packaging material company, Lucky time has a lot of experience in producing and designing various plastic cups. Lucky time is committed to providing packaging that meets every client’s standards, hoping to become a supplier that satisfies all customers.