[P2assist] Plastics in microwaves

[p2assist@lists.p2pays.org]

I've been following this discussion, and the tips from Eileen that she
found on the websites are certainly valid and mostly common sense. If
plastic containers are mis-used in the microwave, you usually end up with
melted, warped or otherwise mangled objects (very hot too). Even people who
have not read these reports might stop that kind of behavior if they
observed those results.

However, it should be  noted that epidemiological studies of cancer-causing
chemicals use large doses over a short period of time to mimic the effect
of long-term exposure to small amounts of chemicals. If you heated your
food in plastic containers, or with plastic wrap on top, or in
non-microwave types of containers, to the point of warpage, and you did it
every day for a long time, yeah, you might get cancer. Or you might not.

Occasional heating of foods in microwave-approved plastic containers,  to
reasonable temperatures, is probably safe. But if folks don't want to do
so, and would rather use glass, that's a personal preference.

I guess I don't see this issue as a pressing public health emergency.

Please don't use PET bottles in the microwave. They shrink.

Sandi M. Childs
NAPCOR Eastern Regional Director
56 College Street, Suite 204
Asheville NC 28801
voice 828/236-9006
fax 828/236-2009



www.napcor.com