Eek. This is not good is it!
Daily Mail 22.10.22 “1,500 PARTICLES OF PLASTIC IN ONE TAKEAWAY COFFEE”
Drinking one cup of takeaway coffee just once a week could expose you to around 90,000 pieces of microplastic a year, research shows. 1,000s of plastic particles were found in drinks served in 3 main types of takeaway cups – polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene (PE.) PP is used for hot drinks and the 2 others are used for cold drinks.
A single cup released up to 1,500 particles after 5 minutes’ exposure, with microplastics breaking off from the plastic wall. A microplastic particle is plastic smaller than 5mm, but many are much smaller and visible only by microscope. Polypropylene – the most widely used type in food preparation – produced the highest number of particles. Researchers from Sichuan Uni in Chengdu, China, in “Hazardous Materials” journal, estimate that people ingest 37,613 to 89,294 microplastics a year from just one plastic cup every 4 to 5 days.
They said this must be taken seriously as the smallest particle could be the most damaging, as they’re more likely to penetrate human cells. Research this year by Heather Leslie from Free University of Amsterdam found microplastic in volunteers’ bloodstream, lungs, hearts, kidneys, brains, placentas and in new-born babies.
Don’t forget too that most takeaway cups contain corn linings so are not good if you are TrulyGlutenFree. Even the Huskee ones made out of coffee husks contains corn as I checked that one recently!
Moral of the story: take your own cup! How about going for a stainless steel interior, bamboo exterior one, a cool vacuum one or The Independent has a list of different options here (I’ve not checked each one). Personally, if I’m sitting in a cafe, I’ll take my own favourite cup from the kitchen and my own coffee in a flask. I offer to pay, of course; say I can’t order anything but may I enjoy the cafe? I would have the coffee if I could tolerate the water. I’ve never known anyone say no. If they hesitate, I say it’s not worth your risk, trust me, and that always works! I ask, too, if they have a pay it forward coffee scheme where I can pay for someone else’s coffee, often a local homeless person.