At present, there are six kinds of cups in common use, namely stainless steel, glass, ceramics, plastic, enamel and paper cups. So, what are the hidden health risks of this cup made of six materials? Which is the least safe? Let me explain it to you one by one.
Glass. Glass cups are generally made of inorganic silicate substances at a high temperature of more than 600 degrees or even thousands of degrees. The chemical composition of inorganic silicate is relatively stable and will not release or produce harmful substances during firing.
Therefore, in the process of daily use, when it is used to hold boiling water and tea with a temperature of about 100 degrees, it will not produce harmful substances. Moreover, the glass surface is very smooth and easy to clean, and bacteria are not easy to breed on the cup wall, and dust and dirt are not easy to gather.
The only thing to note is that when using a glass, don't pour boiling water directly, which will easily lead to bursting. You should pour some hot water to warm it up first.
Generally speaking, glass is the safest water cup, with a safety index of 5 stars.
Non-glazed ceramic cup. The main component of ceramic cups is clay, which will form a layer of glaze on the surface after high temperature calcination. In general, this glaze is free of harmful substances. Drinking hot water, pouring boiled water and drinking tea are all very good choices.
What needs to be emphasized here is that it must be a ceramic cup with colorless inner wall to be safe.
Safety index: If it is a colorless ceramic cup, the safety index is also 5 stars.
Stainless steel water cup. Stainless steel cups are widely used because they are not fragile and easy to clean. However, stainless steel belongs to alloy products and contains many kinds of heavy metals. If used improperly, it will release toxic and harmful substances and endanger health.
In daily use, it is not a big problem to use stainless steel cups to hold ordinary water, but it must not be used to hold acidic drinks, such as carbonated drinks, coffee, fruit juice and so on. These acidic substances will destroy the stability of stainless steel surface, and it is easy to precipitate heavy metal substances, so it is unsafe to drink ordinary water with them.
Safety index: 4 stars.
Enamel cup. This is an appliance with a metal skeleton and porcelain glaze. It takes into account the advantages of metal utensils and porcelain, which can not only prevent iron metals from rusting, but also prevent porcelain from being easily broken. So it was very popular and widely used in the last century.
However, few people use enamel cups now. This is because the porcelain on its surface is not fired, but artificially synthesized, containing harmful metal elements such as lead and cadmium. These elements are easy to seep out under acidic and heating conditions, thus affecting health.
Moreover, the enamel cup is very easy to lose porcelain, which makes the exposed metal core easy to rust, but it is impossible to throw it away directly, and continuous use will also cause harm to the human body.
Safety index: 4 stars
Plastic cups. Plastic cups are also very popular at present, and their raw materials are ancillary products of petroleum. However, there are great safety hazards in plastic cups, and toxic substances are very easy to precipitate when filled with hot water. When the temperature is high, you can obviously smell a big smell.
Moreover, not all plastic cups are suitable for drinking, so be sure to check whether there is a QS logo when buying. There is a small triangle symbol at the bottom of the cup. The higher the number, the better, preferably 7, indicating that this plastic has the highest safety level.
Plastic cups are very easy to be contaminated with dust and bacteria during use, and cleaning is also more troublesome.
Safety index: 3 stars.
Paper cups. Disposable paper cups are widely used because of their convenience. This paper cup has a layer of paper outside and a film inside. Whether this kind of paper cup is clean or not is unrecognizable to the naked eye.
Moreover, some paper cups contain a large amount of fluorescent whitening agent, which is a harmful substance and has great health risks. And from the perspective of environmental protection, it should also be used less.
Safety index: 2 stars
Glazed ceramic cup Actually, it is a kind of ceramics. The reason why it is taken out alone is because this kind of cup is very harmful. This kind of cup is painted with pigment on the glaze and then baked to dry.
Many people like to use this kind of cup because of its bright colors and beautiful patterns, especially some young people prefer to buy it. However, this cup is really not suitable for drinking. Because, in the process of use, it is very easy to emit harmful substances, which is harmful to human health, so don't use it.
Safety index: 0 stars.
Note: The picture comes from the Internet.