According to the German Federal Institute for Toxic Risk Assessment (BfR), exposed to hot liquids, bamboo mugs release compounds classified as carcinogenic.
While plastic coffee cups are said to be responsible for 36,000 tons of waste each year, more and more people are switching to bamboo cups, which are much more aesthetic and supposedly biodegradable. However, this material would not be all good, especially with regard to mugs, alert German Federal Institute for Toxic Risk Assessment (BfR). According to the organization, these cups made from melamine, a polymer resin reinforced with bamboo fibers, contain dangerous compounds. While melamine itself isn’t toxic, heat doesn’t do it well. Exposed to high temperatures, it decomposes into monomers and formaldehydecompounds classified carcinogens.
To reach these conclusions, experts conducted tests on 228 types of bamboo mugs. They found that by pouring liquids over 70°C into them, in 35% of cases, the European toxin limit values were exceeded. Sometimes with levels thirty times higher than the safety threshold for adults and 120 times for children. What’s more, the amount of melamine released from the mugs increased with repeated exposure to hot or slightly acidic liquids like sodas.
Fortunately, the other cups in melamine but without bamboo filling show much lower levels of toxic substances. The bamboo fibers would degrade the network formed by the polymers within the melanin and the hot liquid would accelerate the hydrolysis and decomposition of the resin, the experts suggest.
Not really recyclable
While occasional exposure to large amounts of these chemicals is not necessarily dangerous, regularly using a bamboo cup is risky for your health, concludes the BfR.
This summer, the German consumer group Stiftung Warentest had already alerted to the possible dangers bamboo mugs after testing 12 different mugs. In addition to the health risks, the group had pinpointed commercial lies. Indeed, while it was noted on several mugs that they were “biodegradable” or “recyclable”, if the natural bamboo fibers biodegrade over time, the cups do not rot, despite the years. The only option is to burn them.
So if you’ve decided to do away with plastic, instead of using a bamboo cup, get a reusable cup made from a material like stainless steel, porcelain, or polypropylene.
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