BLACKHERBALS.COM
Essays By: Ted Twietmeyer
There are hidden perils associated with some conveniences. If you take a drink of tea using a glass tumbler, you’re as safe as the water you drink. Take that same drink from a foam cup and it can be a different story. Actually, the foam is polystyrene – it’s the same plastic many computer monitor cases and televisions are made of, just in a different form.
Most readers are familiar with the woman at McDonalds who won a huge lawsuit over coffee that burned her lap. But has anyone really stopped to think about the coated paper containers used everywhere for soda, coffee and hot chocolate? Paraffin wax is well known but it’s actually derived from crude oil and dates back to Carl Reichenbach in 1830. Paraffin is classified as an alkane hydrocarbon. [1]
Yes, paraffin is made from that same crude oil which makes everything possible including plastics, household chemicals, furniture, gasoline and house paint to name only a few. And you can easily consume paraffin without even knowing it.
Polystyrene (foam) applications: [3]
POLYSTYRENE FOOD CONTAINERS NON-FOOD USES OF STYRENE
Coffee cups Packing “peanuts”
Soup bowls and salad boxes Foam inserts to ship appliances/electronics
Foam egg cartons, produce and meat trays Television and computer cabinets
Disposable utensils (plastic-ware) Compact disc jewel boxes and audio
Cassette cases
Consider hot coffee poured into a polystyrene cup. What happens? “The migration of styrene from a polystyrene cup into the beverage it contains has been observed to be as high as 0.025% for a single use. That may seem like a rather low number, until you work it this way: If you drink beverages from polystyrene cups four times a day for three years, you may have consumed about one foam cup's worth of styrene along with your beverages.”[2]
It’s difficult (and sickening) to imagine eating Styrene plastic in any quantity.
But the problem doesn’t stop with container chemistry. Fat products in food as well as acidic products can leach more polystyrene out of the plastic than water does. Long-term exposure to small quantities of styrene is also suspected of causing:
* Low platelet counts or hemoglobin values;
* Chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities;
* Neurotoxic effects due to accumulation of styrene in the tissues of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, resulting in fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, and other acute or chronic health problems associated with the nervous system. [2]
There are measurable levels of styrene in both unprocessed and processed foods as shown below:
UNPROCESSED FOOD STYRENE LEVEL (ppb)
Cinnamon 170 – 39,000
Beef 5.3 – 6.4
Black currants 2 – 6
Coffee Beans 1.6 – 6.4
Peanuts 1 – 2.2
Strawberries 0.37 – 3.1
Wheat 0.4 - 2
PROCESSED FOOD STYRENE LEVEL (ppb)
Milk and Cream 134
Beer 32
Yogurt 26
Desserts 22
Soft Cheese 16
Styrene levels in food – source: 2005 NIH report [3]
Note how foods higher in fats leach more styrene out of the plastic, and this list is far from being all inclusive! There are the plastics that microwave food is packaged in. There is still a toxin threat even if they heat those items up in a conventional oven instead of using a microwave.
On top of all this poisoning potential, Styrene is also considered a carcinogen by the International Agency for Cancer Research. Cups, plates and silverware are commonly made from this plastic, too.
Ceramic mugs can also be a problem. Cracks in aging ceramic glazing can expose the bare ceramic to the liquid you are drinking. If the ceramic has lead or other chemicals, these could migrate into your drink. Over time, it could lead to various health problems. And what about those cracks inside your coffee mug? These cracks probably would never cross your mind when a doctor gives you the bad news about a health problem – perhaps a serious problem which he doesn’t even understand.
So what’s the solution to foam, styrene and ceramic problems? Use a glass cup or tumbler wherever you can.
I randomly selected the
Here’s what the Delaware State Health Service has to say about Benzene. In pure form Benzene looks just like distilled water.
* How does benzene work and how can it affect my health?
Workers who breathed benzene in high amounts experienced dizziness, sleepiness, lightheadedness and feeling confused. Some had an irregular heartbeat, headache, upset stomach or irritation of the eyes, skin, nose and throat.
Long-term exposure to benzene can result in bone marrow damage. It can also cause aplastic anemia, a condition where not enough red blood cells are produced. Aplastic anemia can progress to a form of cancer called myelogenous leukemia. Benzene has been named as a cancer-causing substance.
The short-term effects of drinking large amounts of benzene are very much like the effects of breathing it, except without irritation to the eyes, skin or lungs. Long-term effects of drinking low levels of benzene are not fully known. Ingesting benzene from drinking water is treated as a cancer risk.
* How is benzene poisoning treated?
There is no treatment just for benzene poisoning. A doctor will treat symptoms depending on the exposure.
* What factors limit use or exposure to benzene?
At work, exposure can be reduced by following health and safety rules and using respirators and other personal protective equipment. Limit contact with gasoline and cigarette smoke. Families are encouraged not to smoke or allow smoking in their house, in enclosed environments such as their vehicles, or near their children.
* Is there a medical test to show whether I’ve been exposed to benzene?
Benzene can be measured in the breath and in the blood.
*What should I do if exposed to benzene?
If benzene gets on your skin, remove contaminated clothing and wash thoroughly with soap and water. Get medical help. If you get benzene in your eyes, flush with large amounts of water for 15 minutes. Get medical help quickly.
If you breathe benzene, move to fresh air. Get medical help quickly.
If you swallow benzene, get medical help right away.
Now let’s put this all into perspective. FDA stands for Food and Drug Association, although it should stand for “Finding Drugs for Approval.” The “food” approval part of the agency seems to be a rapidly vanishing responsibility. The FDA approves drugs for sale that can cause every side effect from dizziness to a heart attack or stroke, even death. And these drugs require documentation using mountains of research data.
But what of foods containing toxins like Benzene? These are quite literally consumed around the clock, all over the country. And doctors wonder why cancer is so prevalent!
Has this report cured you of drinking or eating from foam cups and plates? Or cured you of eating and drinking food from paraffin hydrocarbon coated paper plates and cups?
It’s what you can’t see, smell, touch or taste that can hurt you the most.
Ted Twietmeyer
[1] Paraffin details - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin
[2] http://www.grinningplanet.com/2008/04-08/foam-cups-polystyrene-cups-article.htm
[3] http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/chemicals/styrene/StyreneMono-www-s.pdf
[4] http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dph/files/benzenefaq.pdf
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