Thread: Can plastic ingestion be linked to cancer?

Hey,

I really don't know much about this, but I've heard people mention that, for example, using certain kinds of plastic bottles repeatedly can raise your risk of cancer. Also, I've been told that ingesting small amounts of plastic from dental floss that has shredded can also raise the risk.

Is there any truth in this?

Any help would be great.

Cheers.

Yes, some plastics have confirmed carcinogenic properties in animal studies, but I don't know the names off the top of my head. Although, I'm pretty sure the risk is quite low, and it usually involves the plastic having been heated resulting in carcinogens leaching into the water/drink contained in the bottle.

Apparently, these days practically almost everything is linked to cancer. I wouldn't believe it just yet; the tiniest correlation can lead to theories like this which are unlikely to be true.

Keep flossing as per usual.

AY is correct. Ingesting plastic, which is about as inert a material as you can get (unless you like eating sand), is unlikely to cause any problems besides indigestion.

Incidentally, here are a couple of interesting health correlations, which epidemiologists have discovered.

Those who brush their teeth at least twice a day have a much lower incidence of heart attacks while relatively young.

Those who have had the smallpox vaccination have a much lower chance of contracting melanoma.

Why?