Are disposable paper cups safe?

 

In fact, this kind of understanding is not comprehensive. To achieve carcinogenic effect, two conditions must be met: one is that the amount of fluorescent agent used exceeds the standard, and the other is long-term use of paper cups with this fluorescent agent exceeding the standard. possibility.

 

Recently, many people have questioned the safe use of disposable paper cups. They believe that there are many safety hazards in disposable paper cups, especially when they are filled with boiling water, they will dissolve the toxic substances in the cup, which will pose a serious threat to the health of consumers and even cause cancer. Is it really the case?

 

First of all, we must first understand the material for making disposable paper cups: PE Coated Paper.

 

PE coated paper is coated with a layer of PE film on the surface of ordinary paper using a cast coating machine. The production process is: Virgin Paper---Coating---Printing---Die-Cutting---Forming---Packaging. Coated (PE) paper cups are odorless, non-toxic and touched like wax, and have low water absorption, so they are often used as waterproof materials. Its melting point is between 120° - 140°, while water boils at 100°. In this case, it can be seen that using disposable paper cups to hold hot water will not cause safety problems

 

However, many people still think that in order to make paper cups look beautiful, some manufacturers may use additives such as bleaching agents or even fluorescent powder, which will cause harm to our health and even cause cancer.

 

There are also some consumers who think that the ink printed on the outer layer of some paper cups may not meet the standard, which may contain carcinogens such as benzene or toluene.

 

Of course, the manufacturer and the quality inspection department have also considered this problem, so when printing, the pattern on the outer layer of the paper cup has a certain safety distance from the cup mouth. According to the requirements of the national standard (GB/T 27590-2011) on the printing position, it is stipulated that the printed pattern on the outside of the paper cup should have a clear outline, uniform color, and no obvious stains, but "the cup mouth should not be printed within 15mm from the cup body, and the cup bottom should not be printed within 10mm from the cup body." Therefore, during normal use, the mouth will not touch the printed pattern, so there is no need to worry about the carcinogens in the ink being ingested into the body.

 

In general, as long as there are qualified products produced by regular manufacturers, the risk of cancer caused by using disposable paper cups is very small.

 

 

If you are still worried about disposable paper cups, then the following methods will teach you to choose suitable disposable paper cups.

 

1. If have blue light. When purchasing paper cups, you can take the cups and irradiate them under fluorescent lamps. If there is blue light in the cup, it means that the cup contains fluorescent agent, so you need to buy it carefully.

2. Check for SC safety signs. Generally, products with the SC mark are safe products, which have passed the national safety food inspection and can be purchased with confidence.

3. Smell. If the cup has a peculiar smell, it means that the paper cup is likely to use low-quality ink or be contaminated by bacteria, so don't buy it.

4. Hardness. Squeeze the sides of the paper cup lightly. If the cup body is too soft and will tear easily, most of them are unqualified and inferior products. Choose a paper cup with a certain thickness and a stiff cup body.

 

Finally, if you are still worried about the adhesion of harmful substances before using disposable paper cups, you can also rinse them with clean water before using them.

 

All in all, if you want to buy disposable paper cups, you must buy paper cups with guaranteed quality, and don't be greedy for cheap. Unqualified paper cups are generally very soft and easily deformed after being poured into water. Some paper cups are poorly sealed, and the bottom of the cup is prone to water seepage, which can easily cause hot water to burn your hands.

 

In the end, we will show you the application scenario of PE coated paper mentioned in the article. PE coated paper is divided into single PE coated and double PE coated.

Single PE coating is to coat one side of ordinary paper with PE coating. Common disposable paper cups, hamburger paper, etc. PE coated, cold drink paper cups are generally double coated, and a small amount of inner coated film is used. Because ice cubes are generally added to cold drinks, even if the ice is removed from the cup, the drink itself will be cooler than the outside temperature, which will form condensation on the outside of the paper cup. Single-coated paper cups will cause the cup paper to absorb too much water and become soft, affecting customer experience. Therefore, most cold drink paper cups will consider using double coating.

 

In fact, in addition to PE coating, we also have PP/PLA/PET/water-based coating and other technologies that can be used for disposable paper cups. WE will be sharing in future articles content.