Are you a coffee lover and your day starts and ends with a hot cup of coffee? While drinking your favourite hot beverage in a ceramic, glass or metal cup is perfectly okay, many people pour their coffee or tea in disposable paper cups that are readily available. While these cups may be healthier for the planet compared to plastic cups, but they are equally unhealthy as the inside of these cups are coated with plastic too. As per research, exposure to hot liquid for just 15 minutes can make plastic-coated disposable paper cups release thousands of tiny plastic particles apart from other harmful substances into the liquid and if a person drinks three cups of tea or coffee in a paper cup, they would be ingesting a staggering 75,000 tiny microplastic particles. (Also read: Microplastics found in human breast milk for first time. What expert suggested)
Micro-plastics in your coffee? Dangers of drinking coffee from a paper cup(Freepik)Plastics are virtually omnipresent. You can look around and just count how frequently you use one plastic item or the other. There have been periodic warnings on how micro plastics might be making way into our body. Not without reasons, countries are banning single-use plastics. All this has however had limited impact. Amid all this, concerns are also being raised around use of paper cups we use for hot beverages such as tea, coffee and soups.
"These cups may be healthier for the planet than plastic, but it’s doubtful they’re healthier FOR YOU?! It’s a minefield staying healthy isn’t it! Drinking hot tea or coffee from a disposable paper cup can put you at risk of infertility, gut problems or the big C. The inside of your takeaway paper cup is coated with plastic that leeches toxic chemicals into your hot drink," says Tim Gray, Health Optimising Biohacker, Psychology Specialist in his recent Instagram post.
Gray quotes a study done by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur where they poured hot water into paper cups to see what would happen.
"They found that exposure to hot liquidfor 15 minutes makes plastic-coated disposable paper cups release 25,000 tiny plastic particles, harmful ions and heavy metals into the liquid. They found ions such as fluoride, chloride, nitrate and sulfate, and toxic heavy metals such as lead, chromium, cadmium and arsenic in the water samples," writes Gray.
Gray says an average person drinking three regular cups of tea or coffee daily, in a paper cup, would be ingesting 75,000 tiny microplastic particles.
"Consuming microplastics and heavy metals in addition to your daily dose of takeaway coffee can put you at risk of hormonal imbalances, reproductive issues, gut issues, cancer and neurological issues," says Gray explaining the dangers of having coffee in disposable cup.
The expert however adds that the study found no plastic particles were in paper cups held water at room temperature, and thus drinking cold drinks in paper cups is fine but not hot.
"To avoid consuming lots of microplastics with your takeaway hot drinks, invest in a reusable silicone or glass cup. It’s way better for your health and for the planet," he adds.
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