# What Happens if You Eat Plastic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802 "2000-02-02T19:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PatronAnejo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@PatronAnejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatronAnejo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/1 "2000-02-02T19:33:00Z")
Sometimes when I call in a carry-out order to my local health-food joint, they put the fried chicken in the styrofoam clamshell while it’s still really hot and it melts a hole in the container. When I get ribs _and_ fried chicken, the result is barbecue sauce all over the Corinthian leather. The first couple of times this happened, I didn’t eat my breakfast for fear of my life. Nowadays, I just kinda eat around the obviously affected areas. What sort of vapors released by the container are being redeposited on my food? What are the related health hazards? Has anyone tested the plastic spatulas in the kitchen? Is Tupperware _really_ microwave safe? What about Saran Wrap? Are the risks even significant compared to those posed by carbonized, hormone-fed cowflesh? ---
**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/2 "2000-02-02T19:49:00Z")
Is **anything** really safe anymore? The general answer to your OP: If you eat plastic, you poop plastic. As any dump operator will tell you, plastics don’t biodegrade real quickly. Note: _This is not a recommendation to chew styrofoam when the munchies hit!_ * * * Computers in the future may weigh no more than 15 tons. -Popular Mechanics, 1949 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/3 "2000-02-02T20:01:00Z")
> [@](#): > > The general answer to your OP: If you eat plastic, you poop plastic. As any dump operator will tell you, plastics don’t biodegrade real quickly. Most dump operators aren’t dousing their plastics in digestive acid. Not being overly familiar with the chemical structure of plastics I don’t know how they would interact with the various bodily fluids, but it seems like there would be more going on than a simple passage through the digestive tract with no chemical changes. ---
**Author:** ![Scout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Scout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scout)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/4 "2000-02-02T20:18:00Z")
> [@](#): > > If you eat plastic, you poop plastic. I can verify that. When I was a kid, I had a toy farm. One of the chickens came with little plastic eggs. My baby sister swallowed the eggs. I cried. A few days later, my mom held out a dirty diaper and said, “Here are your eggs. Do you still want them?” I cried again (and did NOT retrieve the eggs). Of course, “plastic” is a very general term, and I have no idea what kind of plastic the eggs were. And this doesn’t address one of the questions in the OP, whether it’s safe to microwave Saran Wrap. I’ve heard there are concerns about the vapors given off when it’s heated. Heating something and exposing it to digestive acids are two different things. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/5 "2000-02-02T22:03:00Z")
The packaging is probably polystyrene, the bubbles being, more than likely, butane. Chemically, they would be unlikely to undergo any reaction in your digestive tract unless you have a very weird stomach containing superacids or some such like. ---
**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/6 "2000-02-02T22:47:00Z")
Don’t sweat it; it comes out all right in the end! 🙂 * * * VB The ways of cats and little girls are mysterious. ---
**Author:** ![Surgoshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Surgoshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surgoshan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/7 "2000-02-02T22:51:00Z")
You die a horrible, painful death. The plastic will block the egress from your stomach to your intestines, and will fill with gas and other materials, and will bloat, swell, and burst, filling your insides with semi-digested food and hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes. You will die from internal bleeding and in exquisite pain. Or what they said. * * * I sold my soul to Satan for a dollar. I got it in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/8 "2000-02-02T23:12:00Z")
You might want to go easy on the styrofoam munchies. [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/950414.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/950414.html) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/9 "2000-02-02T23:22:00Z")
Any plastic that will come in contact with a food product, must be rated as safe for contact with food. Your plastic won’t be rated for contact with food, if the FDA feels it’s not safe. You won’t die from eating a small amount of plastic that was made for contact with food. * * * I’m only your wildest fear, from the corners of your darkest thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/10 "2000-02-02T23:30:00Z")
If you eat enough of it, topped with that [plastic cheese](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/005387.html), you’ll get celluloid cellulite on your hips and thighs. * * * “A bird in the hand is the Devil’s workshop; it is the goose that laid the bad apple.” - TennHippie ---
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/11 "2000-02-03T00:17:00Z")
I had a student do a very successful speech on this a few years ago. The bottom line is DO NOT HEAT ANY FOOD IN PLASTIC IN A MICROWAVE! While the risks are individually small, they are cumulative, they are catastrophic in some instances,and they are always avoidable (unwrap the butrrito and put it on paper, etc.). Bucky * * * Oh, well. We can always make more killbots. ---
**Author:** ![PatronAnejo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@PatronAnejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatronAnejo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/12 "2000-02-03T01:03:00Z")
Hey **Bucky** , I wonder if you can dig up any specifics from that speech. I know for a fact that certain sausages are packed in an “edible” plastic casing. Does heating such sausages have any effect on their overall toxicity? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/13 "2000-02-03T02:36:00Z")
isn’t bubblegum made of plastics? Yummy. * * * “I have gathered a posie of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is mine own.” ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/14 "2000-02-03T03:23:00Z")
When it doesn’t come out in the end, and they have to go after it, is that called ‘plastic surgery’? Ray (or is the term ‘de-termination’) ---
**Author:** ![PatronAnejo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@PatronAnejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatronAnejo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/15 "2000-02-03T04:08:00Z")
Hey **Bucky** , I wonder if you can dig up any specifics from that speech. I know for a fact that certain sausages are packed in an “edible” plastic casing. Does heating such sausages have any effect on their overall toxicity? ---
**Author:** ![PatronAnejo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@PatronAnejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatronAnejo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/16 "2000-02-03T04:11:00Z")
Duuuh, what does **Repost from data** mean? Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/17 "2000-02-03T13:46:00Z")
I can tell you very clearly what happens when styrofoam burns. I shot a job years ago, in a large facility ( who shall remain nameless because I fear for my life). They make styrofoam bowls, plates, etc. The stuff is stamped out of long wide rolls of styrofoam, with HOT stamps. I saw this funky blue haze up near the ceiling, and inquired as to it’s origin. The employee said, and I do quote," That’s the blue smoke. Today isn’t a bad blue smoke day, some day’s it gets thicker". I asked what it was, and was informed that when styrofoam burns, it releases cyanide gas. And, have a lovely day. ``` Cartooniverse ``` * * * If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel. ---
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/18 "2000-02-03T20:41:00Z")
Wait a second there. Your buddy at the plant may have been funning with you a little bit. Styrofoam is foamed polystyrene. It’s made, unsurprisingly enough, from styrene. Styrene is the common name for phenylethene, a molecule composed solely of carbon and hydrogen atoms (eight of each). Cyanide, on the other hand, is a moiety (not a molecule, but a piece of one) consisting of one carbon atom and one _nitrogen_ atom. Now, in theory, you could get the nitrogen from air, but in practice the N[sub]2[/sub] molecule is pretty darn stable and not likely to break apart. Polyurethanes, now, are a different story. And PVC, while not giving off “cyanide”, can release hydrogen chloride or chlorine gas, neither of which you really want to breathe if you can avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/19 "2000-02-03T22:25:00Z")
What happens if you eat plastic? You are allowed to take a dump in the #2 plastic bin at your local recycling center. No wonder soda in 2-liter bottles tastes like crap… * * * “It’s only common sense, There are no accidents 'round here.” ---
**Author:** ![labradorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@labradorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labradorian)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802/20 "2000-02-03T23:05:00Z")
Don’t ask me about the LEGO incident. * * * **Dee da dee da dee dee do do / Dee ba ditty doh / Deedle dooby doo ba dee um bee ooby / Be doodle oodle doodle dee doh** [http://members.xoom.com/labradorian/](http://members.xoom.com/labradorian/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-eat-plastic/6802.md?page=2)