Geoffrey Branger / Photo credit: Sebastian Gollnow / DPA / dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP
According to a Belgian study, cardboard straws, which have gradually replaced their plastic equivalents, could actually be more harmful to health than their predecessors. They would contain PFAS, namely ultra-toxic molecules that can be responsible for cancer.
Cardboard straws are the focus of a Belgian study. While they have been replacing plastic straws for several years, considered to be new for both health and the environment, they could, in reality, prove even more dangerous than their predecessors. A Belgian study indeed denounces the presence of PFAS, in other words ultra-toxic molecules.
These products are actually present in most of the cardboard straws analyzed for the study. They serve, in this case, to make them resistant to humidity. But for Doctor Stéphane Pirnay, director of the Expertox laboratory, specialist in industrial toxic analyses, it’s all a question of exposure. “It is not the same if we are exposed to one gram, one milligram or one nanogram. We are on low concentrations, namely 3ng per gram. We must carry out a risk assessment. This is a subject which can be of concern and which deserves to be studied”, he assures.
“The impact on human health has been overshadowed”
Because these molecules can be responsible for cancers, particularly of the kidneys and testicles, but also for hormonal disruptions, fertility disorders or even disruption of the immune system. “The debate, in my opinion, was not complete or too focused on the environment,” believes Stéphane Pirnay, regarding the gradual elimination of plastic straws. “They were right to say ‘beware of plastic’. But the impact on human health has been obscured, excluded from the debate. And it is a real issue. We must assess the risk to humans “.
According to the study authors, the best straws to use are those made of stainless steel. They are reusable, recyclable and a priori harmless to health.