Are plastic straws toxic?

Currently, plastic straws have become familiar items associated with different drinks such as milk tea, smoothies, soft drinks…

Handy plastic items: Disposable, harmful for a lifetime
Are straws with all kinds of colors in nutritious drinks safe for consumers’ health?

According to Associate Professor Tran Hong Con, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Natural Sciences (Hanoi National University), the additives put into the production of plastic straws contain thousands of substances. If the manufacturer uses the correct food coloring, there should be no problem.

People are careful when using plastic straws

But if using banned colorants or fluorescent agents, there is a possibility of cancer, but in fact the amount of that substance is extremely low and the potential for poisoning is very low. With the current floating plastic straws on the market, the price is very cheap, but the origin of the materials and production technology is guaranteed or not, it is worth mentioning.

Because no agency currently controls the quality of this product. The cheapest plastic pipes that are still profitable are often made from recycled materials. If these types of plastic have infections, bacteria, through the processing process, they have been calcined above 200 degrees, then germs and bacteria will no longer exist. But with biocides and antibiotics or some substances that can persist at high temperatures, there is still a risk of bacterial infection. Therefore, most recycled plastics are not allowed for use in food and medicine.

Associate Professor Hong Con added that although using plastic straws of unknown origin will be high risk, the possibility of poisoning is extremely low. However, if children pull out plastic straws to play, chew or we abuse all day (even hot water uses plastic straws), then that regular use is likely to have toxic content. Just let it out, absorb into the body when it exceeds the allowable threshold.

Clinical trials have shown that colored straws often contain Azo dyes, heavy metals and fluorescent agents, which are banned from use because of the risk of cancer.

Therefore, experts recommend that consumers use colorless straws. When choosing straws, we should choose products with labels; The seal of the package contains all necessary information such as plastic composition, production facility, food safety and hygiene quality.