Harmful: It is a high molecular polymer, which is generally very toxic. Only at high temperature will thermal decomposition occur, producing gases harmful to human body, such as hydrogen chloride and olefin gas. Not a highly toxic chemical. In the past two years, it has been a hot spot of news media hype. Since 1999 10 and 17, the article entitled "Foamed Lunch Box Farewell to You" in XX Evening News stated that "disposable lunch boxes will produce this (dioxin) substance at a high temperature above 65℃. Eating a hot meal and making a bowl of instant noodles with boiling water will produce' dioxins'. Many domestic newspapers and periodicals reprinted with shocking headlines, which made many ordinary consumers who didn't know the truth afraid, because they had been using foamed plastic tableware and eating instant noodles in foamed plastic bowls for a long time. Some people even ask the relevant government departments why they are so irresponsible to people's health and let this "strong carcinogenic" tableware circulate in the market for a long time, endangering people. In order to clarify the truth, workers who have been engaged in plastic processing technology management, industry management and information research for a long time published the article "Styrofoam tableware has nothing to do with dioxins". On September 7th, 2000, China Plastics Processing Industry Association invited some well-known domestic experts and professors to hold a press conference, and made a scientific analysis and demonstration from the production conditions and sources of dioxins, as well as the structural composition, properties, polymerization process, processing process, use environment and waste disposal of the main raw materials of foamed plastic tableware. It is concluded that foamed plastic tableware does not have the conditions to produce dioxin, so it is clearly pointed out that foamed polystyrene tableware does not contain dioxin carcinogens. After the meeting, more than 20 news media, including Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, China Light Industry News and China Environment News, reported that the problem of toxic foamed plastic tableware seems to have subsided a little. However, in recent months, some news media and some people have endlessly released the news of toxic foamed polystyrene tableware. Now, the misleading excerpts of recent newspapers and TV stations on this issue are as follows: \ x0D \ x0D \ 1. 2000. Dr. X of Kunming XX Hospital said that foamed plastic tableware contains bisphenol, which will cause men to become women? " This news is also widely circulated in Guangdong and Jiangsu. \ x0d \ x0d \ 3. On March 2nd, 20065438+0, a reporter from the blind area of Beijing X newspaper wrote an article entitled "Do you dare to eat bottled instant noodles? According to experts, eating instant noodles in disposable foam plastic packaging barrels is even more harmful than disposable foam plastic tableware. ? As long as the temperature exceeds 65℃, toxic substances such as bisphenol contained in it will precipitate and invade food. If the concentration of harmful substances in raw materials for producing foamed plastic tableware exceeds the standard, the toxicity will be even greater, which will lead to reproductive dysfunction. " \ x0d \ x0d \ 3。 On March 15 this year, Beijing XX Association issued (authoritatively issued) Consumer WarningNo. 1 this year: "Will foamed plastic tableware be toxic if the temperature exceeds 65℃? Harmful substances can invade food and cause damage to human liver, kidney, reproductive system and central nervous system. " \ x0d \ x0d \ 2。 In an article written by XX News Agency on March 15 this year, XXX, a professor-level senior engineer of Beijing XX Research Institute, said: "Disposable foamed plastic tableware will produce a lot of toxic gases when burning, which will be harmful to human health if heated in use? . "\ x0d \ x0d \ 5. The consumer service guide of Beijing XX Association in March this year 15 Question 7" What are the hazards of foam packaging? " It is pointed out that: "Foam plastic packaging is very harmful to human health when used. When the temperature is high, the harmful substances inside will precipitate out and condense in food, especially in fat. People who eat it will cause liver and kidney damage and cause functional variation. This phenomenon has been proved by our scientists. Instant noodles, in particular, are polluted by foamed plastics, so foamed plastics have become our most serious health killer. "\ x0d \ x0d \ [6] On the evening of March 15 this year, in the program 3. 15 of Beijing X TV Station, XXX continued to claim that foamed plastic tableware would release dioxin when interviewed by reporters. \ x0d \ x0d \ ⒎ On the morning of March 23rd this year, in the program "Morning in Beijing" of Beijing X TV Station, it was once again mentioned that foamed plastic tableware would release dioxins. Professor XXX of XX University in Beijing said: "Foamed plastic tableware is toxic, and its oligomer will penetrate into food and do harm to human body. \ x0d \ x0d \ ⒏ On September 18, 2000, in the economic edition of XX Daily, a report entitled "White is unbearable, green is hard to flourish" said that "the foamed lunch box will release harmful substances when heated. Because food enters the human body, taking it for a long time will affect the nerve center and cause arrhythmia, and it will also damage the liver and kidney, so it will be harmful to people's health." 5000.0000000000505 \ x0d \ x0d \ The above statement that "foamed plastic tableware is toxic" is claimed to have scientific basis and has been proved by Chinese scientists? . If there is really a basis, then we hope to make its basis and proof public, so that consumers can distinguish between true and false, and really "bye bye" to it. If there is not enough test data, we should adopt a realistic attitude and should not follow the trend, let alone make things out of nothing and confuse people; Moreover, unfounded and unscientific propaganda will have a wrong impact on the government's macro-decision, cause ideological confusion to the people's consumption concepts and consciousness, have a bad impact on product reputation, and cause huge economic losses to enterprises. \x0d\\x0d\ At present, there are several opinions about the harm of polystyrene foamed tableware to human body: ① When the foamed plastic lunch box is heated at 65℃, dioxin will be produced; (2) Polystyrene contains residual monomers or will release monomers when used above 65℃ to cause toxicity; (3) The foamed polystyrene tableware will release dimer, trimer and other harmful substances when heated; (4) Polystyrene contains bisphenol, which leads to the problem that men become women. In order to clarify the so-called "toxicity" problem mentioned above, we will talk about our views according to relevant information and data: \ x0d \x0d\\x0d\ \ The issue of "dioxins" has been clearly expounded in many articles and press conferences of China Plastics Processing Industry Association, but there are still a few people who claim endlessly that foamed lunch boxes will release "dioxins". Summarize the following points and clarify again: According to a large number of information and data at home and abroad, the sources of "dioxin" include the following three aspects: ① Some impurities in industrial production, such as the production of chlorine-containing organic chemicals (some pesticides, preservatives, herbicides and paint additives), will produce by-product dioxin impurities during heating; ② By-products from the industrialization of some products, such as dioxins, often exist as by-products and impurities in pulp bleaching and industrial smelting; (3) Due to incomplete combustion of municipal solid waste at about 350℃, a large number of "dioxins" will be produced, which is its main source; In developed countries, these sources each account for more than 90% of the total dioxin production. In addition, when chlorine-containing decontaminants are used, automobile exhaust will also produce trace amounts of dioxins. From the above conditions and sources of dioxins, we can know that polystyrene foamed tableware has nothing to do with dioxins, because it is not an organic compound containing chlorine, and it is only below 100℃ when used. How can it be considered as high temperature? \ x0d \ x0d \ 1。 Regarding the problem that polystyrene contains residual monomer or will release monomer to cause toxicity when used above 65℃ \ x0d \ x0d \ Regarding the problem of containing residual monomer, according to the data provided by manufacturers, the national standard that the content of styrene monomer in polystyrene produced in China should not exceed 65438+5000 ppm is strictly implemented. According to Japanese food hygiene law, the total concentration of volatile substances (styrene, toluene, ethylbenzene, cumene, n-butyl benzene, etc.). ) It must be less than 5,000 ppm in polystyrene used for making plastic products and food packaging containers, but as a foamed polystyrene container for hot soup, its total concentration must be less than 2,000 ppm, and the concentrations of styrene and ethylbenzene should not exceed 65438±0000 ppm respectively. \ x0d \ x0d \ The problem that the lunch box will release monomers when heated above 65℃ has no scientific basis, because polystyrene is relatively stable, the benzene ring is not easy to open, and the temperature of depolymerization into monomers must be above 250℃. Even if the raw materials contain trace monomers allowed in the standard, according to the article "Styrofoam Tableware" written by Hao Longbin, Director of the Environmental Protection Department of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan Province Province, these monomers will evaporate into the air immediately, and there is almost no chance to remain in food or utensils. Even if there is residue, due to its small amount, the normal liver of human body can be eliminated through metabolism without causing harm to human body. According to the second issue of Reinforced Plastics (1992), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has removed styrene, which is considered as a carcinogen, from the list of "carcinogens". According to a report in Materials Engineering magazine, the above decision was published only after it was approved by the Drinking Water Department (ODW) of the US Environmental Protection Agency. In the United States federal registration (materials), styrene was finally ruled as a substance that was not regarded as a compound with sufficient carcinogenic potential. The Ministry of Drinking Water pointed out that in the full study of drinking water, no carcinogenic reaction of styrene was found, and this decision has been included in the final rules of 38 chemicals with the maximum impurity content in drinking water formulated by EPA, among which drinking water with styrene content of 0. 1mg/l has no obvious harm to human health. \ x0d \ x0d \ 13。 The problem that the dimer and trimer released by polystyrene foamed tableware will disturb the endocrine function of human body \ x0d \ x0d \ comes from an article published by Nozichikawa and others in Japan Health Association on May 1998. The Japanese government attaches great importance to this and has done a lot of research, analysis and evaluation. The problem of poisoning caused by styrene dimer and trimer has been basically clear. First of all, Japan Polystyrene Industry Association entrusted TNO (Netherlands Applied Science Research Organization) and Food and Drug Safety Center and other research institutions to conduct safety confirmation tests, and made the results public, and issued a "safety declaration" on dimers and trimers, which declared the end of the problem of disturbing human endocrine function. At the first seminar on endocrine disrupting chemicals held by the Japanese Environment Agency in July, 2000, an understanding was reached: "Because it is technically impossible to determine, it is unnecessary to consider the dangers of styrene dimers and trimers, so it is concluded that they will not be included in the investigation." At the second seminar on endocrine disrupting chemicals held on June 365438+1October 3 1 2000, the department announced its decision not to include styrene dimer, trimer and n-butyl benzene in the list of environmental hormones formulated by the department, and decided to revise "SPEED'98". In addition, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Agriculture and Water also made it clear that dimers and trimers of styrene are not so-called endocrine disrupting chemicals. Accordingly, the Japanese government officially ended the "environmental hormone storm" that plagued the styrene industry, polystyrene products industry and society in the past few years. \ x0d \ x0d \ 1。 Questions about Bisphenol in Polystyrene \ x0d \ x0d \ Figure1Figure2 \ x0d \ I wonder what scientific basis the experts who put forward this argument have? As we all know, the foamed plastic tableware on the market at present is made of polystyrene that has passed the national standard test. Polystyrene is polymerized from styrene monomer, and its molecular structure is shown in figure 1. Bisphenol is a monomer of polycarbonate, epoxy resin and unsaturated polyester, which can be divided into bisphenol A (made of phenol and acetone) and bisphenol F (made of phenol and acetaldehyde), and its molecular structure is shown in Figure 2. Because the above two molecular structures can be known, they are not the same kind of substances, polystyrene does not contain bisphenol structure, and it is impossible to contain bisphenol impurities, and we have not found any reports from the literature that bisphenol can cause reproductive dysfunction, so the strange theory that polystyrene foamed tableware contains bisphenol can cause men to become women is simply nonsense. In addition, regarding the issue that Order No.6 issued by the State Economic and Trade Commission in 2000 is about the "drug control" order, we visited the relevant leaders of the State Economic and Trade Commission, and they made it clear that disposable non-degradable foamed plastic tableware was included in the list of products that must be eliminated within a time limit before the end of 2000 because of environmental considerations, and it did not involve whether it was toxic or not. Therefore, it is untrue to say that the National Decree No.6 is an anti-drug order, and its harmfulness is extensive and must be clarified. Through the above data and experimental analysis at home and abroad, it is proved that polystyrene foamed tableware is safe. But at the same time, we should also deeply realize that the environmental pollution caused by polystyrene foamed tableware waste must be further strengthened. We believe that in addition to the relevant departments to formulate relevant laws and regulations, properly manage and improve people's awareness of environmental protection, governance should mainly be carried out through scientific and technological progress. How to reduce or restrain its pollution degree from the perspective of materials is a historical task entrusted to our plastic industry by the times. With full confidence, we will work with workers in the plastics industry all over the country to control the negative impact of foamed plastic tableware waste on environmental problems with the goal of recycling, reduction and harmlessness, and expect it to shine again in meeting market demand and facilitating people's lives in the near future. \ x0d \ x0d \ Finally, I sincerely hope that all news media will adhere to the principle of respecting science and seeking truth from facts, and do not follow suit and mislead consumers. Science is rigorous, and nothing can be false. Therefore, the "toxic theory of polystyrene foamed tableware" can also rest! There is no better preventive measure!