We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Temperature and ethanol synergistically enhance microplastic release from disposable cups: mechanistic insights and health risk assessment of typical plastics
Summary
Systematic testing of polypropylene, PET, and polystyrene disposable cups found that high heat (70°C) combined with 50% ethanol released up to 1,281 microplastic particles per liter from polystyrene cups, with adults potentially ingesting 6,916–66,612 microplastic particles annually from this single source. The results demonstrate that everyday beverage container use — especially hot or alcoholic drinks in disposable cups — is a significant and underappreciated route of human microplastic ingestion.
Disposable plastic cups used to hold beverages can release microplastics (MPs) that pose a potential risk to human health. In this study, the release of MPs from polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polystyrene (PS) cups was systematically investigated under simulated real-world conditions by varying the temperature (20, 40, and 70 °C), contact time (30, 60, and 120 min), and food simulants (4% acetic acid, 10% ethanol, 50% ethanol). The experimental results demonstrate that the highest temperature (70 °C) and longest exposure (120 min) caused a significant increase in MPs release, with PS cups showing the highest level (1281.33 ± 27.23 particles/L), particularly in 50 % ethanol food simulant. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) revealed the formation of surface cracks and protuberances after thermal treatment, while attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) indicates that the most pronounced chemical alterations in PS. Based on typical consumer behavior, we estimate that adults could ingest up to 6916–66612 MPs particles annually from disposable cups. These results indicating the interplay between cup material, usage conditions, and MPs release mechanisms suggest avoiding prolonged storage of hot liquids in PS containers to mitigate health risks.