Some cups that are often drunk in our daily life, some use rules, transparent plastic cups for milk tea, ceramic cups or plastic paper cups for hot coffee, glass cups for beer… Regardless of the brand, the materials of the cups they use are similar. Now we are concerned about how high the safety of the cup material is, and whether it is harmful to our health?
The material of the cup is different, and the liquid it contains is also different, why is that? Is there anything special? Will cups of different materials have different effects? Let’s discuss it today
What are the commonly used cup materials?
1.
Ceramic cup
, Ceramic cup is made of kaolin, clay and other raw materials by molding and sintering. It is characterized by high melting point and high hardness. Therefore, ceramic cups are durable. The raw materials of ceramic cups and ceramic cups are different, and the sintering temperature is also different: clay for ceramic cups and kaolin for ceramic cups, resulting in different water absorption rates of ceramic cups. High temperature ceramic cup has low water absorption, the surface is easy to clean, does not absorb peculiar smell, does not crack the glaze, when buying a ceramic cup, you can gently brush it with your fingers. If it is a crisp and pleasant sound, it means that its porcelain body is good; If the voice is hoarse, it is inferior porcelain.
2，
glass
According to different processes, it can be divided into ordinary glass, tempered glass and borosilicate heat-resistant glass. Ordinary glass breaks easily. When the weather suddenly becomes cold and hot, it is easy to burst. In order to solve these two shortcomings of ordinary glass, tempered glass and high borosilicate heat-resistant glass came into being. It has the following characteristics:
Drop resistance
: High borosilicate heat-resistant glass is equivalent to ordinary glass, and tempered glass is 3-5 times that of ordinary glass.
High temperature resistance
: In the process of local thermal expansion, the expansion difference caused by high borosilicate heat-resistant glass is very small and not easy to damage; Tempered glass is not damaged by its prestress resistance and poor expansion of the prestress resistance formed by tempering. The working temperature of high borosilicate heat-resistant glass is very high, up to 450 °C, while the maximum temperature of tempered glass generally does not exceed 300 °C.
However, when drinking hot water, the above two cups will not break, you can put the cup in the refrigerator, cool and pour 100 degrees of boiling water. If it is not broken, it is borosilicate or tempered glass.
3，
Plastic cups
, Generally speaking, the bottom of the plastic cup is printed with numbers or abbreviations, representing the material of the plastic cup.
Milk tea transparent cup
: Transparent, soft, good crack resistance, light weight, good gas barrier effect, but poor heat resistance. It deforms around 70°C, so it can only be used in cold or room temperature drinks
Soft transparent plastic cup
: Uncommon, not strong heat resistance. When the temperature exceeds 110°C, thermal melting occurs.
Non-disposable transparent water cup for household use
: For example, the brushing water cup has good thermal stability and can withstand high temperatures of 130°C, but the material is fragile and easy to break
Disposable plastic mugs for restaurants
: This plastic cup has low strength and poor heat resistance
A common water cup space cup:
Made of other plastic materials
A plastic cup similar to a ceramic
。 It is made from melamine resin. It looks a bit like ceramics, but it is much stronger than ceramics. This is not easy to break. Non-toxic, tasteless, acid and alkali resistant. Relatively safe to use.
If you encounter a PVC cup marked “PVC/03”, it is recommended not to use it. Although this material is cheap and malleable, the harmful substances in the plasticizer will precipitate out after exceeding 81 ° C, which is easy to cause cancer.
4，
Paper cups
Paper cups are usually coated with wax or plastic to prevent liquid from seeping out
Multi-layer coated paper cup
The coating usually refers to the polyethylene coated paper cup (PE/04). Compared to uncoated materials, multi-layer coated materials are more stable, smoother and waterproof, usually single-layer or double-layer polyethylene, depending on the quality and durability of the paper cup
Waxed paper cups
, generally refers to the wax coated on the outside of the paper cup to enhance the strength and hardness of the paper cup, and will not soften the paper cup due to water vapor on the outer wall when holding cold drinks. The paper cup will also be designed as a corrugated paper cup and double wallpaper cup to warm your hand without burning it
5.
Stainless steel cup
If ceramic cups and glasses are suitable for indoor environments, stainless steel cups will definitely be the winner in outdoor use and heat insulation. Stainless steel cup, double insulation with lid, can keep hot drinks warm for hours. However, most stainless steel cups tend to affect the taste of coffee after repeated use.
What materials are harmful to the human body
When it comes to mugs that are harmful to humans, you may first think of plastic cups, but there are many types of plastic. Not all plastic cups are harmful.
Most plastic cups are not resistant to high temperatures, such as polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate. Plastic cups made of the above materials produce harmful substances such as styrene when they are filled with hot drinks. However, it is unscientific to talk about toxicity, regardless of the dose. The migration of styrene monomer depends mainly on the contact temperature, the lipid content in the beverage and the filling time. The migration amount of styrene monomer generally does not exceed 0.025% of its content. If you want to reach harmful styrene monomer levels, it won’t affect your body unless you drink hundreds of hot drinks a day.
Mentioned above
Space cup made of epoxy resin,
At high temperature or light, it will release its monomer bisphenol A, which is harmful to the human body
。
As a result, most bottles now do not use epoxy.
disposable paper cups,
As long as it is not used for a long time, it is harmless to the human body.
In order to prevent rust, more than 10% nickel, manganese and chromium are added to the stainless steel cup to form mild steel, but these elements are harmful to the human body. Are stainless steel cups harmful? The high-quality stainless steel cup meets the national regulations, and the chromium intake does not exceed 0.4mg/square decimeter. Even if it persists for a long time in an acidic environment, the intake of chromium ions will not exceed the standard.
Ceramic mugs or glasses
, basically there will be no ingestion of harmful substances.
With the improvement of material life, people have put forward higher requirements for health, and the state has strict regulations on the use of cup materials, and most of the materials will not be a problem. I hope this article can bring you a reference and accompany you healthily.
Stainless steel cup