Today almost every house has at least a small number of plastic, disposable utensils. For example, not so long ago on a picnic they took ordinary porcelain, glass, metal utensils, and after rest it had to be taken back home and properly washed. This was greatly overshadowed by the hostess's rest.
History of disposable tableware
At the beginning of the 20th century, disposable tableware appeared in the USA. Initially, only paper cups were produced, later they began to make spoons, plates, knives, forks. And in the late 1950s, when the mass production of disposable dishes was launched, polymer materials began to replace paper. However, modern manufacturers are returning to the production of paper utensils, because it is safer and not toxic.
Our country also began to produce disposable dishes with paper cups, but the quality and appearance left much to be desired, for example, to drink hot coffee and not to get burned, it was necessary to insert one cup into another.
In the USSR there were few fast-food establishments, and so there was no demand for disposable utensils. After a time, or rather in the mid-1990s, Russia began to produce disposable paper and plastic utensils, moreover, in quality not inferior to European and American.
Safety, quality, consumer properties - these are the main requirements that are today presented for disposable dishes.
Dish of plastic utensils
During the process of polymerization of elements, unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve that all molecules have reached the required size, so some molecules are still active, which means they can get into the contents of the dishes, and then into the human body. The process is accelerated when hot tea or coffee is poured into such dishes, hot food is applied.
Some plastic products contain salts of heavy metals, harmful stabilizers, and a number of other toxic substances that, when heated, enter our body, and with repeated use, even more so. Therefore, in no case should you reuse disposable dishes.
Acrylic and styrene utensils are not expensive and consider that it is unbreakable. However, in practice, styrene dishes often break down. Such dishes can be reused, it can be washed by hand or in a dishwasher, but it can not be put in a microwave oven.
Polypropylene is an inexpensive material used for the production of dishes. Utensils from this material can withstand temperatures up to 100 o C. It is widely used on picnics, parties and other events arranged in the fresh air. Such dishes are best washed by hand, but it is possible in a dishwasher. Polypropylene dishes can also be used in a microwave oven.
Polycarbonate is a high-quality and expensive material (it costs 5-6 times more expensive). From this material glasses for alcohol are made. Polycarbonate dishes can be washed and used in a microwave oven.
The dishes made of polystyrene are able to withstand different temperatures, and, as a rule, there is a corresponding marking on it, but still most often such utensils are intended for cold products.
Foamed polystyrene for heating is more stable: in such dishes you can pour hot food or tea, and as the conductivity of heat is poor, it will not burn your hands. Such dishes are easy to clean in a dishwasher, it can be used in a microwave oven.
Of melamine in the chemical industry, as is known, a variety of so-called formaldehyde resin is obtained. In dishes made of melamine, there is often a large amount of formaldehyde, which is toxic to humans, and often the content of this substance exceeds the permissible norm by dozens of times. Dishes from melamine itself is dangerous and affects the body negatively, so even the producers manage to sometimes add to it for strength asbestos, which can cause the development of cancer. That is why the production ceased to use asbestos. Also it is necessary to pour in such utensils something hot, so at once formaldehyde starts to be allocated. Well, the drawings on such dishes should be kept at the expense of paint, in which lead is added.
One-time utensils are made of polyvinyl chloride. Advantages of this material - it is lightweight, durable, inexpensive, suitable for different situations and easy to clean. But we are not informed about the volatility and toxicity of polyvinyl chloride by producers: the material disintegrates quickly if a beverage is poured into a bottle of this material, then toxins will quickly enter into it, and then these toxins enter our body.
And although doctors say that this is not dangerous for our body, nevertheless, by absorbing milligrams of toxins daily, one can not overlook that dangerous diseases have arisen. In the end result, any plastic dishes adversely affect our health. With rare use of tangible problems is not caused.
And the very name of "disposable tableware" speaks for itself, it is intended for unified use, but neither as for repeated. But, unfortunately, our compatriots do not pay any attention to this. Such dishes should be discarded immediately after the first use, because it was invented for this purpose.
Conscientious producers on their products will put a marking, and plastic utensils are no exception, just have to learn to understand the notation. For example, PS says that the dishes are made of polystyrene, and therefore, it should not be applied and poured hot, as along with the food you will get toxins that destroy the liver. The designation PP indicates that the dishes are made of polypropylene, which is stable to heating, so you can safely drink hot coffee from it and eat hot dishes. Nevertheless, if this is a disposable tableware, you still should not reuse it.