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23 years
Go to follow up question
Is eating in plastic plates (and drinking in plastic cups) dangerous? same question if the food (or drink) is hot not cold
Dec 28, 2013
2nd opinion

Dr. Rania Mousa General Medicine
Eating in plastic plates or drinking in is safe depending how is used or more precisely how much is used .
Phthalates and Bisphenol A (BPA) are chemicals that are added to many products, including plastic.People are exposed to these chemicals through direct contact with products that use phthalates or food in contact with packaging that contains phthalates
the amounts you would be exposed to on a normal basis have been proven safe for a number of years, and these plastics have been used by everyone from hospitals to mothers.

So the answer to this question is not one ,yes they could be harmful or safe depending on how much we are exposed to them or how much our food are in contact with . in general if it is used only in occasions then this will not be harmfull ,it will be still in the limitg of being safe .

Certain consideration must be taken :

Do not use in children because this will make them exposed during life time more ,beside their tissue are still in the developement phase .

Among the many different plastics used to make glasses, cups and dishes, only ONE contains BPA, and that's polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is FDA-approved for food use and is usually found in better quality

Look for the numbers written behind a plastic container ,check the recycling codes on the bottoms of containers. Number 7 may contain BPA and 3 may contain phthalates. Generally, plastics with the numbers 1, 2, and 4 are OK

Better to avoid putting plastic containers in dishwashers, the detergent and heat break down the plastic, which may cause BPA, if it's present, to leach out

Don't heat a plastic container in a microwave unless it is labeled like this .

Better not to put hot food inside especially acidic containing food or sour food becuase for the same reason it will react with the plastic and may cause certain effects on the long term if always this habbit is used while if onetime or rerely used no problem .

AS a summary to your question ,the safety and danger of using plastics is like a glass of water where there is a drop coming in every day ,if the drops are more then after a period of time the water will falls from the glass ,if drops of water are not dropped frequently the glass will not be full ever ,this is in a simple way .
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