Four styrene laden products to ditch
Planning a summer barbecue this weekend or stocking up for Labor Day? Well there’s a new development around the health effects of styrene, that’s been hotly contested for years. Just this week, the National Research Council (NRC) signed off on the National Toxicology Program’s decision to list styrene as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” in its latest report on carcinogens.
“Have a Nice Day! styrofoam food container” by BrokenSphere – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
The styrene industry has fought the designation as a “reasonably anticipated human carcinogen” and good government science for years. As a result styrene and styrofoam products are still quite common in the marketplace; that could change now.
What products have styrene?
Styrene is used to make styrofoam and other plastics. Styrene is all over the place. It lines your refrigerator, it’s in building insulation, in your carpet, it’s in latex and rubber and other products. So okay, maybe you can’t afford to ditch the refrigerator and carpet today. What can you do? Start by avoiding:
- Foam cups for holding coffee and hot tea.
- Foam plates and bowls that could hold hot foods.
- Takeout containers made from foam.
- The number 6 on plastic products. They don’t look like foam but do have styrene.
Here’s some advice from Dr. Weil’s well known website:
Styrene isn’t known to leach out of hard plastics, but some evidence suggests that it can leach out of foam food containers and cups when food or drinks are hot – not when they’re cold. Based on what we now know, you’re probably safe using styrene foam cups for cold drinks, but I wouldn’t use them for hot coffee or tea, and I would avoid using plastic containers for hot foods.
The doctor may be referring to a study in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology that explores how hot foods interact with styrene (a 2009 media report cites it here). Or he may have been also referring to this 201o CDC report (scroll to section 3 on health effects). What to do? Our recent blog on this subject urged people to opt for paper products, or non-styrene plastics that are washable and reusable.
More resources.
Check out our Hazardous 100+ list, to see where styrene falls and other chemicals to avoid. Check out our recent blog ‘Styrene and Styrofoam 101” about the dangers of styrene in your food and it’s many environmental and health impacts.
Comments
The validity of this article may be a bit questionable because there is a clear difference between styrene and ploystyrene (or expanded polystyrene commonly referred to as styrofoam). The styrene monomer has the ability to form a radical molecule quite easily which is why it may be linked to carcinogenic effects. On the contrary, it’s cousin polystyrene is much more stable and will not form radicals unless serious heat is applied. We’re talking much hotter than is capable from a hot beverage. “Some evidence suggests that it can leach out of foam food containers” is a dubious statement made by someone who clearly doesn’t understand that the activation energy to produce a styrene radical molecule from polystyrene is quite high. In other words, you’re not going to get cancer from drinking hot coffee out of a cup made from styrofoam.
Reese Gallagher is misinformed. Numerous peer-reviewed scientific journal articles report on research that has documented the migration of free styrene (the monomer) from polystyrene plastic (the polymer). See, for example, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15376510802510299. This study found that styrene migrated from polystyrene cups into hot tea, hot milk and hot cocoa, with greater migration for high temperatures and fat content. Some or most of the styrene may come from unreacted styrene present as a free monomer residual in the polystyrene plastic. The commenter’s chemistry and toxicology is off too. The latest science on styrene’s ability to cause cancer, see the federal government report on carcinogens: https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/content/profiles/styrene.pdf. This authoritative source, while citing the high workplace exposure to styrene that have led to conclusive evidence that it causes cancer, also states: “The presence of styrene in packaged foods is due primarily to leaching of monomer from polystyrene containers (Howard 1989, ATSDR 2010). The rate of migration of styrene monomer from polystyrene containers is determined mainly by the lipophilicity of the food, surface area of the container per volume of food, duration of contact, and food temperature (ATSDR 2010, Lickly et al. 1995b, ECB 2002, Choi et al. 2005).” In other words, you’re going to be exposed to some styrene when you drink a regular coffee from a styrofoam cup.
A new male contraceptive called Vasalgel is currently being tested. Everyone is making a huge hype about it but no one mentions that its made out of the polymer Styrene maleic anhydride. The contraceptive is injected in the male crotch area and renders sperm trying to get through the gel useless. My question: is Styrene maleic anydridge safe if its injected in the body?
I have been following the formulation of this product for 10+ years. I would not be concerned about the polymer that Vasalgel will use. As others have put it better, it is polymerized — there is far less availability for it to bond with anything else, since it is already bonded to its co-polymers. Note as well the tiny amount “ingested”; I’m certain you have more free styrene (e.g., styrene monomer) exposure in a year than you would five with the maleic anhydride polymer.
Hi Oscar,
The reaction to polymerize the Styrene and Maleic Anhydride monomers will never be 100% complete. If you inject it, then there will be an increased concentration of Styrene floating around your system. I have not seen any good theories for the cancer triggering mechanism associated with aromatics, However it is reasonable to assume that higher concentrations play a role in the likelihood of developing cancer.
Great article – note that just because some variants of #6 plastics are “safe for use” under some conditions, never are they safe for the environment, and better alternatives are available that are biodegradable or made with much safer raw materials than styrene. You still have to consider manufacturing and post-use as part of the equation!