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The gasket is made of SPC and ironically is in the same class of resins that is used by a few of my customers in things such as blood bag liners and IV's.
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The gasket is made of SPC and ironically is in the same class of resins that is used by a few of my customers in things such as blood bag liners and IV's.
Is it possible to microwave some plastics for some amounts of time and for there to be little known risk of doing this? Of course there is. But most people aren't careful and don't want to have to think about this stuff, and so most people would be better served by glass containers where there is literally zero chance of them melting in the microwave regardless of temperature or cook time duration. Just because Tritan is free of BPA or its analogs does not mean that there is literally zero possible harm from the product. How long did we have "microwave safe" plastics before BPA toxicity became a known thing and everyone had to get rid of all their tupperware?
Even if we ignore all of the material issues here, the simple fact that you can find picture after picture of melted containers shows that normal people are excessively heating these things in practice, and so they would be better served by glass all other things being equal.
As for the risk of using these plastic container for food storage or cooking - that's up to the individual. The world is full of risk. If you wish to stay in a bubble and never leave the house because of the risks that await outside then that's your choice, it's also a risk to do so. But most wouldn't call that living.
If there was any peer reviewed study that showed serious health risk of the plastics used in these containers then it would be pulled from the market. In today's world it would be extremely difficult to avoid plastics that contact food products. Lots of people also have plastic in their body - example: hernia repair using inert plastic mesh. Nearly everything in life is a risk. Some risks improve the quality of life, while others don't. It's up to the individual to decide what risks they wish to take. But to advise people on what risks not to take without the facts to back it up is reckless.
As for the risk of using these plastic container for food storage or cooking - that's up to the individual. The world is full of risk. If you wish to stay in a bubble and never leave the house because of the risks that await outside then that's your choice, it's also a risk to do so. But most wouldn't call that living.
If there was any peer reviewed study that showed serious health risk of the plastics used in these containers then it would be pulled from the market. In today's world it would be extremely difficult to avoid plastics that contact food products. Lots of people also have plastic in their body - example: hernia repair using inert plastic mesh. Nearly everything in life is a risk. Some risks improve the quality of life, while others don't. It's up to the individual to decide what risks they wish to take. But to advise people on what risks not to take without the facts to back it up is reckless.
No one is saying that plastic should never come into contact with anything. Nor is anyone calling for the wholesale elimination of all risk. What we are discussing here is "should you microwave plastic?" and the answer is "as a general rule, no", particularly when using a suitable alternative - i.e. glass - is readily and easily available in the exact same form factor and poses literally zero of the potential risks we're concerned about. This "the world is full of risk so why avoid X" is like advocating for people to commute to work on coked up grizzly bears because the alternative (driving) also has risks. It is nonsensical.
Telling people to avoid situations where they might consume plastics is like telling people to avoid lead. There is no "safe" amount of lead, there is no "beneficial" amount of lead for a person to consume. There is just a threshold below which we are unable to detect the maleffects, but if history is any guide this is likely a limitation of our ability to measure rather than an indication that lead is a good thing for people to have in their bodies. Does lead have some good uses in modernity? Of course. But that doesn't mean the general rule of thumb should be anything other than "do what you can to reduce your lead intake".
Let's look at some related recent history: BPA was invented in the late 1800s and used extensively ever since, with a massive ramp up in the mid-1900s for things like food and water containers and later baby/infant products. May 1999 the FDA publicly asserted the safety of BPA for bottle-fed infants, ignoring emerging evidence of low-dose BPA toxicity, which was known to be an artificial estrogen since the 1930s. It wasn't until 2007 that the massive influence of BPA manufacturers on CERHR was revealed, which then ignited the media firestorm that eventually caused Congress to get involved, the leeching of BPA from baby bottles into heated liquids being a huge topic of concern here. Even as major retailers like Walmart announced in 2008 that they were pulling BPA products from shelves, BPA manufacturers stuck to their stance that BPA was safe even though Health Canada and US agencies officially deemed BPA a "dangerous substance." Then a bunch of places started banning it and now you'd be hard pressed to find new food products that use the material. Hell, its been banned in China since 2011 for anything used to contain food or drink for children.
We got it right on BPA eventually, but this notion that "If there was any peer reviewed study that showed serious health risk of the plastics used in these containers then it would be pulled from the market" is literally and demonstrably false.
TLDR: use glass food storage containers if you're going to heat your food.
Fun fact, PVC is extremely prevalent in the medical device, tubing and storage industry. If you've ever had an IV, or saline drip, you've mainlined FPVC phthalate plasticizers.
My point in this thread is this is like a smoker worrying about sitting by a campfire a few times a year that it's going to give them lung cancer. Every one of you/us exposes ourselves to far worse things multiple times a day and doesn't think twice but for some reason the microwavability of plastic is a hot button discussion like it's the difference between life and death. Get over yourselves. Next time you need medical care tell them you don't want plastic in your body and see how far that gets you.
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The gasket is made of SPC and ironically is in the same class of resins that is used by a few of my customers in things such as blood bag liners and IV's.
From: https://www.ncbi.nlm.ni
Also, I'm guessing you didn't intend to imply this, but someone could get the impression that you're saying that because water and milk is stored in a certain material that that material is necessarily free of EA or other material-related risks.
Personally, I've decided the convenience** of plastic outweighs the known risks. From the information I could find, polypropylene (PP) —transparent but cloudy— is the one I'm most comfortable with, and a potentially useful heuristic may be to avoid plastics that are fully transparent as well as those that are flexible. We almost never put them in the microwave or dishwasher. Storing fatty foods, especially sauces, in them is something we need to cut out, though. Snapware is one PP option.
* Tritan reportedly uses BHPF which appears to have anti-EA properties
** And the guarantee of no glass slivers in my or my kid's food. I wish this wasn't a real issue, but reviews across the internet indicate it's probably a significant happening with even higher-end latching glass containers.
I have been buying the glass ones lately, not out of a concern over the plastic, but because they can go in the oven and the lids are 100% compatible. Got rid of all the oddly shaped Pyrex sets I've accumulated and now have a happy, organized cupboard with the same lids for everything. Nice.
Looks like they sold out and the only seller is charging $16 for shipping. I definitely would have bought this set though, thanks.
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