Plastic cups with logo are made of many materials. The numbers at the bottom represent the types of resins used, including PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, PS, PC and so on. The numbers 2 represent HDPE material, and the numbers 5 represent PP material, which are relatively safe and can be used to drink hot water. Plastic cups made of other materials may add plasticizer, and are not easy to clean, can not withstand high temperature, and can easily produce harmful substances to human body. Now let's find out what the numbers on the bottom of plastic
cups mean.
Numbers on the bottom of plastic cups with logo
The meaning of the number at the bottom of the plastic cup is to represent the type of resin used in the plastic cup, generally 1-7, through the number, you can know the material and heat resistance used in the plastic cup. U.S. plastics industry association made the sign of plastic products using plastic type code, is a representative of the three arrows in the cycle of triangle in the middle, and a digital sign, they will be the recovery of the triangle tag attached on the plastic products, with the Numbers 1 through 7 and abbreviations used to refer to the plastic resin types.
1 stands for PET (polyethylene terephthalate), which is used to make mineral water, carbonated drinks and energy drinks. A high temperature is easy to deformation, there may be some harmful substances to the human body to dissolve, high temperature weather do not put mineral water in the open air or in the car, do not directly put the boiled water into the coke bottle
The number 2 stands for HDPE, the material used in plastic bags widely used in supermarkets and malls, which are resistant to high temperatures but are difficult to clean and can breed bacteria.
3 represents PVC (polyvinyl chloride), harmful content is contained in the plasticizer among them, it is easy to precipitate when encountering high temperature and grease, many plasticizers have been prohibited to use in Europe, our country is used at packing food less plastic products. 4 represents LDPE (low density polyethylene), most of the plastic film and plastic film on the market use this material, heat resistance is not strong, qualified PE plastic film in the temperature of more than 110 degrees Celsius will appear hot melt phenomenon, with plastic film wrapped food heating, food grease is easy to dissolve the harmful substances in plastic film.
5 on behalf of PP (polypropylene), microwave meal box made of this material, 130℃ high temperature resistance, poor transparency, some meal box body to PP manufacturing, the lid is PS (polystyrene) manufacturing, PS transparency is good, but not high temperature resistance, so can not be put into the microwave with the box body.
6 stands for PS (polystyrene), which is used to make bowl filled instant noodle boxes and foaming fast food boxes. It is heat resistant and cold resistant, but can not be put into the microwave oven. Try to avoid using fast food boxes to pack hot food.
7 is for other categories. Plastic used to make baby bottles, space cups, etc., should not be used to hold boiling water.
Is it harmful to drink hot water from plastic cups
Drinking hot water from a plastic cup can be hazardous to your health, but don't generalize. Look at the number at the bottom. Generally speaking, plastic cups made of PP and HDPE are safer and can be used for drinking hot water. Plasticizer can be added in some plastic cups, and hot water can evaporate peculiar smell, causing toxic substances to dissolve, causing harm to human body thereby. And the internal microscopic structure of plastic has a lot of pores, which hide dirt, cleaning will be easy to breed bacteria. These plastics contain a substance called polypropylene or PVC polyvinyl chloride, this material is toxic, so when buying plastic cups, should open the lid, smell whether there is plastic or other smell, where there is a smell is not qualified.
Before deciding whether to microwave a
plastic cup with logo, look at the triangle on the bottom or side and the number 5. Hyde produces microwave-heated
disposable bagasse and cornstarch cups, so you don't have to worry about drinking hot water from them.
Andrea Marshall
Paper Packaging Expert
Provide you with a one-stop solution for paper packaging solutions
Click to contact me