Friday, April 18, 2014

The Dirt On Styrofoam Cups

  Here is an interesting fact you might not have known, there is no such thing as a Styrofoam cup! The cup you always thought of as Styrofoam actually has a different name, polystyrene. Styrofoam is a trademark of the Dow Chemical Company, and is not used to make food products (like cups). Polystyrene is a petroleum-based plastic made from the styrene-monomer, a derivative of Benzene. Not only does polystyrene make up your coffee cup, but it also makes up 46% of Napalm-B, a jelling agent for gasoline (not Napalm, the chemical weapon). Now this might all just sound like geeky science stuff, but the basic simplification translates to: Polystyrene is not safe! And here is the reason why.  

Chemicals used in polystyrene
The two chemicals in polystyrene when examined separately are both classified as extremely harmful to human health. The styrene-monomer is a clear oily liquid derived from petroleum and is considered a neurotoxin. Benzene is also derived from petroleum, and is highly suspected to cause cancer. Just think of all those poor workers who are exposed to these chemicals every single day! 

Health and environmental issues
Polystyrene isn't just horrible for the workers, it's horrible for us and the environment too. There has been some evidence that styrene can leach out of your foam cup or container when the liquid or food is hot. Also, if you're a tea drinker and have ever had a cup of lemon tea in a plastic foam cup, you probably have noticed brownish white foam floating on the tea's surface. Polystyrene can be softened, and even melted, by a substance known as limonene found in lemon oil. The limonene pretty much dissolves the cup, if you happen to look at the inside of your cup after your nice morning tea, the inside will be all pitted. 
 As for the environment, polystyrene creates 57 chemical byproducts when burned and was rated by the EPA in 1986 as the 5th largest creator of hazardous waste. Polystyrene is also often dumped in the environment as litter, this material than breaks up into little pieces that choke animals and clog their digestive system. 

Disposal issues 
 While the technology is available to recycle polystyrene, yet it isn't very readily done. The people who do the recycling get paid per pound of product recycled, and as polystyrene foam is so light weight, it just isn't worth their while.   

Resources 
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