# Can somone please back-up or debunk this "fact" about plastic and Microwaves?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 14, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893 "2002-08-14T20:18:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/1 "2002-08-14T20:18:07Z")
I received this in my email today as part of a mass-mailing (God I hate those!!)
> [@](#):
>
> University of California, Davis Medical Center 2315
> Stockton Boulevard, Sacramento, California 95817
>
> ```
> Plastic Wrap Toxins.
> Author/s: Jule Klotter
> Issue: Jan, 2001
>
> As a seventh grade student, Claire Nelson learned that
>
> ```
>
> di(ethylhexyl)adepate (DEHA), considered a carcinogen, is found in
> plastic wrap. She also learned that the FDA had never studied the
> effect of microwave cooking on plastic-wrapped food. Claire began to
> wonder: “Can cancer-causing particles seep into food covered with
> household plastic wrap while it is being microwaved?”
>
> ```
> Three years later, with encouragement from her high
> school science teacher, Claire had an idea for studying the effect of
>
> ```
>
> microwave radiation on plastic-wrapped food, she did not have the
> equipment.
>
> ```
> Eventually, Jon Wilkes at the National Center for Toxicological
>
> ```
>
> Research in Jefferson, Arkansas, agreed to help her.
>
> ```
> The research center, which is affiliated with the
> FDA, let her use its facilities to perform her experiments, which
>
> ```
>
> involved microwaving plastic wrap in virgin olive oil.
>
> ```
> Claire tested four different plastic wraps and "found not just the
>
> ```
>
> carcinogens but also xenoestrogen was migrating [into the oil]…"
> Xenoestrogens are linked to low sperm counts in men and to breast
> cancer in women.
>
> ```
> Throughout her junior and senior years, Claire made
> a couple of trips each week to the research center, which was 25 miles
>
> ```
>
> from her home, to work on her experiment.
>
> ```
> An article in Options reported that "her analysis found that DEHA was
>
> ```
>
> migrating into the oil at between 200 parts and 500 parts per million.
>
> ```
> The FDA standard is 0.05 parts per billion." Her summarized results
>
> ```
>
> have been published in science journals. Claire Nelson received the
> American Chemical Society’s top science prize for students during her
> junior year and fourth place at the International Science and
> Engineering Fair (Fort Worth,Texas) as a senior.
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++ “Carcinogens --At 10,000,000 Times FDA Limits”
> Options May 2000. Published by People Against Cancer, 515-972-4444
>
> ```
> On Channel 2 (Huntsville, AL) this morning they had
> a Dr. Edward Fujimoto from Castle Hospital on the program. He is the
>
> ```
>
> manager of the Wellness Program at the hospital. He was talking about
> dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be
> heating our food in the Microwave using plastic containers. This
> applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat,
> high heat and plastics releases dioxins into the food and ultimately
> into the cells of the body.
>
> ```
> Dioxins are carcinogens and highly toxic to the cells of our bodies.
>
> ```
>
> Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers
> for heating food. You get the same results without the dioxins. So such
> things as TV dinners, instant saimin and soups, etc., should be removed
> from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you
> don’t know what is in the paper. Just safer to use tempered glass,
> Corning Ware, etc.
>
> ```
> He said we might remember when some of the fast food restaurants moved
>
> ```
>
> away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the
> reasons.
>
> ```
> To add to this: Saran wrap placed over foods as they are nuked, with
>
> ```
>
> the high heat, actually drips poisonous toxins into the food! Use a
> paper towel!!
>
> ```
> You might want to pass this on to your friends....I just did!!
>
> ```
Does anyone know if there is any truth to this?
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/2 "2002-08-14T20:30:04Z")
[Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/toxins/plastic.htm) says there’s some truth to this, but they aren’t too worried. It’s only some brands of plastic wrap that does this, and the ones labelled “microwave safe” are.
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### Author:  [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/3 "2002-08-14T20:30:11Z")
> **[Microwaving Plastic Releases Cancer-Causing Agents](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/plastic-tac-toe/)**
>
> Does microwaving foods in plastic containers release cancer-causing agents into the foods?
Apparently, both of these people did what it says they did, but neither is particularly reliable research. Plastic films labeled “microwave-safe” have probably been tested and found safe; the substances named have never actually been shown to cause any harm to humans; the actual use of these materials doesn’t necessarily correspond to the protocol used in the experiments.
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### Author:  [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/4 "2002-08-14T20:47:25Z")
Thanks!
Snopes is my friend. I should have checked there first.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/5 "2002-08-15T09:53:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> He said we might remember when some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
I thought they moved from foam to paper because of “environmental concerns” - people perceive paper as recyclable (which it is, even though most of it isn’t recycled). In fact, dixons are formed during modern paper and paper pulp manufacture.
When you buy a dish to heat things in the microwave look on the box. You want to see “microwave safe” on it. That means the plastic, if it is plastic, is OK for the nuke oven. If it doesn’t say that, assume it’s not a good idea. This will probably solve 99.99% of the problem.
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### Author:  [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/6 "2002-08-15T09:56:29Z")
Consumer Reports did a study on this and also found using plastic wrap was safe.
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/7 "2002-08-15T13:09:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Consumer Reports did a study on this and also found using plastic wrap was safe.
Did they do long term toxicity studies ? What other things did they _not_ check for ? Did they actually stew the plastic wrap in superheated oil, and then check the smoking residue for bad stuff, or did they assume that everyone tosses their cooking mistakes ?
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### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/8 "2002-08-15T14:49:44Z")
Actually, a local television news recently showed a debunking of this. I attend UC Davis so I paid a bit of attention to the news segment in question.
First: The university asserted it has not conducted such research.
Second: The “researcher” named in the orginal hoax, according to the University rep in the news segment, is not employed nor a student at UC Davis.
Third: The segment closed with one of the people who actually is a researcher at the University “nuking” his plastic wrapped meal and consuming it on camera.
In short, it’s BS, judging by the madeup “researcher” at our local university inserted into the story to give it credence. You’d think that the hoaxter (hoaxster?) would’ve used the school’s website ([http://www.ucdavis.edu](http://www.ucdavis.edu)) to check the directory and copy a real name!
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### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/9 "2002-08-15T16:47:14Z")
Ah, but a real person could be _contacted_, allowing even easier debunking.
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### Author:  [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2016, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somone-please-back-up-or-debunk-this-fact-about-plastic-and-microwaves/123893/10 "2016-04-09T12:34:24Z")
OK, so I’ve gone and necroed a decade and a half old thread, and even changed the title in my bump. But I want to know … how does her story end?
OK, back in 2000, this story was burning up the newsfeeds, and Snopes and The Straight Dope were all we had to debunk it with. Tiny little peeps of reason in the wild. Now this story is immortal – you never ever microwave anything in plastic or you’ll die from horrible belly explosion, researchers say, is what I always hear. I always shoot back, look it up, you’re quoting a 7th graders project, not a research project. The FDA long ago decided what to approve as a food safe container.
Pfft. As if. Of course the male-dominated, government sanctioned, fat cats just want to preserve the status quo. Even a 7th grader knows you think as much with your heart as with your brain when conducting science. Well, that’s the response I tend to get.
This is pretty much the story of the Mpemba effect – how warmer liquids freeze first. People still study it, and people still argue about it. But Mpemba himself isn’t now a theoretical physicist, he’s a game warden. His initial observations are no less valid, but that doesn’t make the science any better either.
So, Claire Nelson: tenured university theoretical chemist? analytical chemist for a major company? Eco-blogger? Paralegal in a consumer advocate legal firm? Account executive in a hometown insurance company? What?