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#1
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Comment: I am writing seeking the answer to a rumor that rolls through the
student body at the school where I work ever so often and is darned persistent. The kid spreading the rumor usually swears an older brother or sister at college has a friend or saw someone at a party die "instantly" or go into convulsions and later die at the hospital because alcohol was being served in Styrofoam cups. While I have tried to point out logically that this is highly unlikely, the chemistry doesn't make sense, or that it was probably the last in a much-too-long line of alcoholic drinks rather than the mix of Styrofoam and alcohol that caused the poisoning/death, I am an English (not a Chemistry or Health) teacher and the rumor rolls back through regularly. Obviously, this isn't a rumor I'm interested in testing to failure. Surely, some expert out there has done the research or knows enough chemistry to definitively put this particular dead horse down! Does putting drinking alcohol from a Styrofoam cup result in death by poison? |
#2
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When in college, I researched this situation extensively, though informally, and there is no truth to said rumor. At least, it is not the styrofoam causing a problem.
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#3
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why only alcohol and not coffee, tea or soda for that matter??
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#4
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(Sniff) Everyone knows the only proper vessel for the imbibing of alcohol is the red Solo cup.
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#5
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I know to not put two-stroke gasoline in a styrofoam cup**. But alcohol?
Come to think of it, I haven't seen a styrofoam cup in a long, long time. They all seem to be paper. **Two-stroke dissolves the styrofoam leaving you with a puddle of diesel and melted styrofoam to clean. I found out as the result of trying to prime an engine that had stalled and needed something to move a small amount of fuel. Did not work very well. |
#6
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Alcohol is, well depends. Pure alcohol will dissolve some plastics and will leach things out of other plastics. So if you are drinking Everclear (95% ethanol) it might leach a small amount of stuff out of Styrofoam. Most alcoholic drinks though are much lower in alcohol and the combination of water and alcohol is much less likely to leach things out of plastics. I would put the possibility of leaching (or dissolving) an instantly toxic substance out of Styrofoam with drinking alcohol at 0%. I would put the chance of death of a person drinking 95% alcohol from any container at substantially greater the 0% and all of the risk is directly related to the health affects of alcohol. |
#7
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Wouldn't one think if it were true that the makers would have defended a few lawsuits and at least made to put warning labels on them?
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#8
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OY |
#9
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It sure did. I was going off of a data point of one incidence, and was not sure if it was the petrol or the oil that did it. I nearly burned my hands off when it happened.
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#10
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Welcome! ![]() |
#11
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![]() OY |
#12
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The plastic they make ice cream containers from here seems OK for petrol. I have used them in the past for cleaning small engine parts, and a bit of petrol is a very effective cleaner.
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#13
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Kerosene (paraffin? ) is also a good cleaner and with a higher flash point, probably a bit safer.
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#14
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My cleaner of choice is usually denatured alcohol, followed by acetone, xylol, kerosene, etc. Acetone can be tough on plastics too, though. OY |
#15
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My experience is that unless you're brewing your party hooch out of paint thinner, there is no problem.
If you are brewing the hooch out of paint thinner, you'll have a lot more problems than a melted cup. |
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