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I use transparent plastic pens as straws, its a bit shorter but the plastic is way more resilient and its reusable forever. example of such pen: https://i0.wp.

I use transparent plastic pens as straws, its a bit shorter but the plastic is way more resilient and its reusable forever. example of such pen: https://i0.wp.com/phenomenex.blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ballpoint-pens.jpg?ssl=1 https://i0.wp.com/phenomenex.blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/10...

sebazzz 3y ago
It's a bad idea to use stuff that is not certified as food safe for food. Not only because some chemicals may come loose, but also because you might have bacteria growth in unexpected areas. Myself, I prefer metal straws, with came also with a tool to clean them.
- countWSS 3y ago
  I'm sure the stuff you hold in hands for hours, and which absorb chemicals into your bloodstream directly by skin diffusion, is far more safer than what is allowed to pass through the digestive system.
  - chownie 3y ago
    This line of thought makes no sense, the plastic pen designed to sit in your hand was crucially NOT designed to be in your mouth directly touching mucous membrane. Perhaps skin diffusion has been taken into account somewhere but this is not carte blanche to up that dosage by some unknown exponent by shoving unknown, non-food grade plastic (whose constituent parts you don't even know) into your mouth
    - countWSS 3y ago
      Well, i know you wouldn't want to mix plastic with anything hotter than room temp, but diffusion with cold drinks is minimal for hard plastics like Polypropylene that most ballpoint pen barrels consist of. Polypropylene (PP) https://www.acplasticsinc.com/informationcenter/r/fda-approved-plastics-for-food-contact https://www.acplasticsinc.com/informationcenter/r/fda-approv... Polypropylene is most often used for single-serve containers like yogurt cups, but also shows up in reusable containers that can store leftovers. On top of being one of the FDA approved food contact materials, it's microwave safe and nonvolatile, meaning it will not react with any type of food you store in it, whether it's acidic, basic or liquid.
      - chownie 3y ago
        Are you certain the barrels are made of polypropylene? Bic pens are composed from polystyrene in their barrels for example, being the most sold pen in the world I'd take note and carefully research whether you've been looking at the materials list for the correct part.
        countWSS 3y ago
        For example, polystyrene meets the stringent standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Commission/European Food Safety Authority for use in packaging to store and serve food. The Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department recently reviewed the safety of serving various foods in polystyrene foodservice products and reached the same conclusion as the U.S. FDA.[108]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene#Safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene#Safety

sebazzz 3y ago

It's a bad idea to use stuff that is not certified as food safe for food. Not only because some chemicals may come loose, but also because you might have bacteria growth in unexpected areas. Myself, I prefer metal straws, with came also with a tool to clean them.

countWSS 3y ago
I'm sure the stuff you hold in hands for hours, and which absorb chemicals into your bloodstream directly by skin diffusion, is far more safer than what is allowed to pass through the digestive system.
- chownie 3y ago
  This line of thought makes no sense, the plastic pen designed to sit in your hand was crucially NOT designed to be in your mouth directly touching mucous membrane. Perhaps skin diffusion has been taken into account somewhere but this is not carte blanche to up that dosage by some unknown exponent by shoving unknown, non-food grade plastic (whose constituent parts you don't even know) into your mouth
  - countWSS 3y ago
    Well, i know you wouldn't want to mix plastic with anything hotter than room temp, but diffusion with cold drinks is minimal for hard plastics like Polypropylene that most ballpoint pen barrels consist of. Polypropylene (PP) https://www.acplasticsinc.com/informationcenter/r/fda-approved-plastics-for-food-contact https://www.acplasticsinc.com/informationcenter/r/fda-approv... Polypropylene is most often used for single-serve containers like yogurt cups, but also shows up in reusable containers that can store leftovers. On top of being one of the FDA approved food contact materials, it's microwave safe and nonvolatile, meaning it will not react with any type of food you store in it, whether it's acidic, basic or liquid.
    - chownie 3y ago
      Are you certain the barrels are made of polypropylene? Bic pens are composed from polystyrene in their barrels for example, being the most sold pen in the world I'd take note and carefully research whether you've been looking at the materials list for the correct part.
      - countWSS 3y ago
        For example, polystyrene meets the stringent standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Commission/European Food Safety Authority for use in packaging to store and serve food. The Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department recently reviewed the safety of serving various foods in polystyrene foodservice products and reached the same conclusion as the U.S. FDA.[108]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene#Safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene#Safety