http://www.bin-store.com/blog

You pull your plastic containers for leftovers out of the freezer and get ready to pop them in your microwave to heat up a quick dinner. But before you press the button, you can’t help but wonder: should you really be doing that? At one point or other, all of us have heard someone say it isn’t safe to microwave plastic. But if you turn your plastic container for freezer storage over, it says “microwave safe.” So is it safe to microwave plastic or not?

Basically, the scare over microwaves and plastic containers for foods started with some early misinformation that dioxins can leach from plastic into food when it is heated up, which in turn can lead to cancer.

The thing is, dioxins are not contained in plastics at all. So the idea that they are just there waiting for you in your containers simply is untrue.

That being said, they can be created if plastics (and other substances) are burned. So if you burn the plastic in the microwave, yes, in theory dioxins could get into your food. That is something to watch out for, but it is also well within your control.

The other thing to know about plastic is that there is more than one kind. In truth, there are plastics, which may in turn be made using substances called “plasticizers,” a couple of examples being phthalates and bisphenol-A (BPA).

These substance are a concern, since they can behave in a manner similar to human hormones. So if they get into your food, they can act like hormones in the body, throwing off your hormonal balance. This can lead to a number of different health disorders.

Thankfully the FDA is well aware of this issue, which is why plastic food containers need to be rigorously tested before they can be labelled as “microwave safe.”

This testing involves subjecting the container to the type of use that is expected, and then checking to see how many of these chemicals end up migrating from the plastic into the food.

So long as the amount is 100-1,000 times less per pound of body weight than that which can harm laboratory animals over the course of a lifetime is the plastic deemed “microwave safe.”

In short, “microwave safe” plastic is safe to use not just now, but over the duration of your lifetime. Of course, if your plastic bin breaks or degrades in any way, it should be replaced.

Just remember that in order for your plastic to be safe in the microwave, you need to be observing safe practices yourself. If you burn your food in the microwave or you subject the plastic to any other sort of extreme use, the chemicals could migrate at a higher degree.

But so long as you are being safe and smart and are using common sense, you should feel comfortable microwaving your food in plastic containers. Just make sure you are only buying “microwave safe” bins, and that you are using them properly.