Coffee Cup - is the paper toxic?

Have you had hot tea or coffee from your favorite coffee chain in a paper cup recently? If you have, listen up.

Your paper cup may be poisoning you. 

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. You are probably aware of the harm that plastic and plastic cups do to your body. When tested, microplastic particles have been found in our blood and urine from multiple sources. 

So you probably switched from using plastic cups to paper ones? Your tea or coffee store did the same. Sure, the lid was plastic, but we forgave them. Didn't they occasionally also do paper lids? 

Except, no one stopped to ask: How can you pour piping hot tea or coffee into a paper cup? 

The only way is to line the paper with a coating of plastic, which absorbs the heat. So your paper cup is actually a plastic cup masquerading as a paper one.

It is still toxic. 

A professor at the University of Gothenburg left the paper cup in the soil. The chemicals that leached into the soil killed all the mosquitoes. Can you imagine what it is doing to your body? 

The plastic used to protect the paper is polylactide. It is not made from petroleum, which is the case with regular plastic. It is therefore biodegradable.

But don't hold your breath. The BBC reported that 99.75% of all paper cups are not recycled in the United Kingdom.

You need a specialized plant to remove the plastic from the cup, and there simply aren't that many factories. 

According to another report, the global brand that sells coffee all over the world sells approximately 6.8 million cups of coffee every single day. 

That is 6.8 million cups of coffee that are injecting plastic into your body, not to mention the planet once you are done with your cup. 

If you must drink coffee at a store, bring your own ceramic cup or travel mug. 

Reach out to me on twitter @rbawri Instagram @riteshbawriofficial and YouTube at www.youtube.com/breatheagain