Safety of plastic spoons, etc. below their advised maximum temperature?

[kenny1999]

I like using polypropylene dishware e.g. spoon, and storage box. I can see that from its label sometimes the maximum temperature recommended is 110 degree C or 120 degree C but it usually doesn't go away from this range. By common sense, I will never heat the polypropylene dishware directly but is it okay to have them serve with hot water (about 100C) or food? If it's only 10 or 20C below the maximum temperature, will it enough start leaching or to have other problems. This is a concern in my mind for quite some time...

 

[Vanadium 50]

Kenny, you really need to stop worrying about made-up hazards. It is not healthy.

Also, water you are serving with food art 100C - boiling - is far more of a hazard.

 

[BillTre]

Polypropylene is a kind of plastic often used in biology labs because you can autoclave it (pressurized steam (above 100˚C). It retains its usefulness in biology labs because it has not formed or shed bad chemicals after the heating.

On the other hand, any kind of plastic can have additives that can be bad in some way.
Using food grade plastics should avoid this.

 

[jrmichler]

The OP has a history of being concerned about the hypothetical health dangers of common items. (S)he is apparently not aware of the true dangers to health. Searching Google Scholar for papers on the effect of healthy lifestyle on death rates and life expectancy, two of the first hits are:

1) Impact of Healthy Lifestyle Factors on Life Expectancies in the US Population, found at: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/epub/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047. An interesting graph (not the only one) from that paper is:

2) Influence of Individual and Combined Health Behaviors on Total and Cause-Specific Mortality in Men and Women - The United Kingdom Health and Lifestyle Survey, found at: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/415827. An interesting plot from that paper:

If you are truly interested in your health, these papers can give you some good ideas, along with measurable benefits. You can also search healthy lifestyle on your favorite search engine to get good information.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

For a good article written on the subject of healthy lifestyles written for the general public, see: https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2008/01/10/four-lifestyle-changes-for-fourteen-years-of-life/

The researchers studied 20,000 healthy people aged 45-79 over the course of 11 years, assessing their lifestyle choices and tracking their health. Each person was given a health score of 0 to 4, with one point for each of the following healthy behaviours:

• not smoking
• keep physically active (defined as having an active job or doing more than 30 minutes of exercise a day)
• having a moderate alcohol intake (1-14 units a week)
• eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (as measured by the amount of vitamin C in their blood)

After adjusting for the participants’ age, social class, gender and body weight, the EPIC researchers found that the combination of the four behaviours had a strong impact on their health.

 

[BillTre]

For a good article written on the subject of healthy lifestyles written for the general public, see: https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2008/01/10/four-lifestyle-changes-for-fourteen-years-of-life/

Whats a unit?

Asking for someone else who's getting ready for the super bowl.

 

[DaveC426913]

is it okay to have them serve with hot water (about 100C) or food?

Melting spoons don't kill people; reckless cooks kill people!

https://www.google.com/search?q=maximum+safe+temperature+for+hot+drinks

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Whats a unit?

Asking for someone else who's getting ready for the super bowl.

Had to look up the original research paper to find the answer:

moderate alcohol intake (1–14 units a week; a unit of alcohol is half a pint of beer, a glass of wine, or a shot of spirit)

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050012

Enjoy the game!

 

[BillTre]

So, one unit = 8 grams of pure alcohol!

 

[JT Smith]

The definition of "moderate" or "low-risk" alcohol consumption varies substantially. The U.K. definition is perhaps the strictest. In the U.S. moderate drinking is defined as 14 units per week, where a unit is 14g of ethanol, almost twice as much as in the U.K.. The W.H.O. defines low risk drinking as about 40% higher than the U.S. The semi-autonomous region known as the Basque country considers low risk drinking to be as much as 2.5 times as much as the U.S. definition, nearly 5 times what the U.K. recommends.

So how do you decide how much risk is worth taking?

A more recent paper on the subject was published in the Lancet in 2018. They found that mortality risk due to alcohol consumption was essentially flat up to about 7 units (@14g) per week. At 14 drinks per week, the USDA definition of moderate, the risk is substantially higher. The authors of that paper estimate that a 40 year old male who consumes 14 U.S. standard drinks per week will die 1-2 years earlier than someone who consumes 7 or less. I find that, umm, sobering.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)30134-X/fulltext

 

[berkeman]

For a good article written on the subject of healthy lifestyles written for the general public, see: https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2008/01/10/four-lifestyle-changes-for-fourteen-years-of-life/

• eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (as measured by the amount of vitamin C in their blood)

But did they use plastic forks while consuming all those fruits and vegetables? Let's stay on topic here, folks!

 

[russ_watters]

Had to look up the original research paper to find the answer:
[a unit of alcohol is half a pint of beer, a glass of wine, or a shot of spirit)]
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050012

Surprising answer. I have always heard that one beer is one unit, equal to one glass of wine. Googling, I see an average beer is 4.5% ABV, wine 11.6%. A standard glass of wine is 5oz and a pint is 16oz*. So by those numbers it's about 1.25 glasses of beer per glass of wine. Obviously mileage varies based on the variety. And maybe more recently higher abv beers are gaining favor. On the other side, it may be harder/take longer to drink the beer due to the volume.

[edit]
*Laboratory testing conducted: A pint glass holds a pint if you fill it to the top, but a typical bottle of beer is 12oz, so that's 0.93 beers per glass of wine.

 

[russ_watters]

But did they use plastic forks while consuming all those fruits and vegetables? Let's stay on topic here, folks!

Is there a topic?

 

[Mayhem]

So, one unit = 8 grams of pure alcohol!

Where I live, it's 12 grams of pure alcohol. Says something about the culture I live in.

 

[JT Smith]

Where I live, it's 12 grams of pure alcohol. Says something about the culture I live in.

What does it say?

Most of Europe uses either 10g or 12g as the standard. But the unit used by a given country doesn't correlate very well with the recommendation for consumption. There are countries that use smaller units but have higher recommended weekly (or daily) maximums.

 

[berkeman]

Is there a topic?

Exactly.

It looks like the OP's question has been addressed pretty well, so I'll go ahead and tie off the thread now. Thanks folks!