{"id":14492,"date":"2014-01-12T11:33:12","date_gmt":"2014-01-12T16:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/articles\/health-implications-of-polystyrene\/"},"modified":"2024-05-01T17:23:17","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T17:23:17","slug":"health-implications-polystyrene","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene","title":{"rendered":"Health Implications of Polystyrene"},"template":"","class_list":["post-14492","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-article","initiatives-composting-for-community","authors-brenda-platt"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":"","background_color":"","article_type":[134],"initiative":15,"display_event_fields":false,"start_date":null,"end_date":null,"start_time":null,"end_time":null,"time_zone":"America\/New_York","virtual_event":false,"location":"","topics":false,"impact_areas":false,"abstract":"<p>Polystyrene is made from the styrene monomer, which is a known neurotoxicant and was elevated in 2011from being a possible human carcinogen to being reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.1\u00a0This means there is a huge body of evidence now linking styrene to human cancers. No polymerization process is 100% efficient, so styrene remains in polystyrene &hellip; <a class=\"kt-excerpt-readmore\" href=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/health-implications-polystyrene\/\" aria-label=\"Health Implications of Polystyrene\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","authors_tax":[601]},"sidebar":{"title":"\u00cdndice"},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<div class=\"ttr_start\"><\/div><p>Polystyrene is made from the styrene monomer, which is a known neurotoxicant and was elevated in 2011from being a possible human carcinogen to being reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.<sup>1<\/sup>\u00a0This means there is a huge body of evidence now linking styrene to human cancers. No polymerization process is 100% efficient, so styrene remains in polystyrene and has been found in 100% of adipose (fatty tissue) samples, meaning it is widespread and prevalent in all of us. It even crosses the placenta barrier. According to a 2000 World Health Organization report, &#8220;The ability of styrene monomer to migrate from polystyrene packaging to food has been reported in a number of publications and probably accounts for the greatest contamination of foods by styrene monomer.&#8221;<sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0You may hear that polystyrene is safe because it\u2019s FDA\u2010approved and regulated. Sadly, we know that the science and history of the regulatory process proves otherwise (consider how long it took to ban lead in paint and gasoline, or the current battle to ban BPA, despite hundreds of peer-reviewed research studies). Products approved in the marketplace today may well likely be banned tomorrow as policy keeps pace with science. In the absence of any action at the federal level, dozens of cities and counties have passed laws to restrict the use of polystyrene in foodservice ware. Many of these laws point to the human health impacts to workers and consumers. DC\u2019s bill, if passed, would be the first comprehensive law in the Mid-Atlantic, and would become a model for other cities to emulate.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>1 See the US Department of Health and Human Services, 12<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0Report on Carcinogens (2011), which is a congressionally mandated, science-based, public health document that is prepared for the HHS Secretary by the National Toxicology Program. The report identifies agents, substances, mixtures, and exposure circumstances that are known or reasonably anticipated to cause cancer in humans. Available online at:\u00a0https:\/\/ntp.niehs.nih.gov\/?objectid=03C9AF75\u2010E1BF\u2010FF40\u2010DBA9EC0928DF8B15<\/p>\n<p>2 See Styrene Chapter, Air Quality Guidelines\u20102<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0Edition, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2000.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ttr_end\"><\/div><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-16 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Compartir en Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Filsr.org%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F33510&#038;t=Health%20Implications%20of%20Polystyrene&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Filsr.org%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F33510&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Health%20Implications%20of%20Polystyrene\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:16px;height:16px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Compartir en Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" style=\"display: inline;width:16px;height:16px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/32x32\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-16 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Compartir en Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet\/?text=Health%20Implications%20of%20Polystyrene&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Filsr.org%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F33510\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:16px;height:16px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Compartir en Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" style=\"display: inline;width:16px;height:16px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/32x32\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-16 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-reddit nolightbox\" data-provider=\"reddit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Compartir en Reddit\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Filsr.org%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F33510&#038;title=Health%20Implications%20of%20Polystyrene\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:16px;height:16px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"reddit\" title=\"Compartir en Reddit\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" style=\"display: inline;width:16px;height:16px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/32x32\/reddit.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-16 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Compartir por correo electr\u00f3nico\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Health%20Implications%20of%20Polystyrene&#038;body=Share:%20https%3A%2F%2Filsr.org%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F33510\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:16px;height:16px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Compartir por correo electr\u00f3nico\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" style=\"display: inline;width:16px;height:16px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/32x32\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","":null,"settings":[]}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Health Implications of Polystyrene | Composting for Community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Composting for Community article by Brenda Platt explores , focusing on\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health Implications of Polystyrene | Composting for Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Composting for Community article by Brenda Platt explores , focusing on\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Institute for Local Self-Reliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/localselfreliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-01T17:23:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/ILSR-share.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/\",\"name\":\"Health Implications of Polystyrene | Composting for Community\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-12T16:33:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-01T17:23:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"Composting for Community article by Brenda Platt explores , focusing on\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Health Implications of Polystyrene\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/\",\"name\":\"Institute for Local Self-Reliance\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Institute for Local Self-Reliance\",\"alternateName\":\"ILSR\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ilsr_color.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ilsr_color.png\",\"width\":509,\"height\":290,\"caption\":\"Institute for Local Self-Reliance\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/localselfreliance\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/institute-for-local-self-reliance\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ilsr_org\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Health Implications of Polystyrene | Composting for Community","description":"Composting for Community article by Brenda Platt explores , focusing on","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"Health Implications of Polystyrene | Composting for Community","og_description":"Composting for Community article by Brenda Platt explores , focusing on","og_url":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/","og_site_name":"Institute for Local Self-Reliance","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/localselfreliance","article_modified_time":"2024-05-01T17:23:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/ILSR-share.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/","url":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/","name":"Health Implications of Polystyrene | Composting for Community","datePublished":"2014-01-12T16:33:12+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-01T17:23:17+00:00","description":"Composting for Community article by Brenda Platt explores , focusing on","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/article\/composting-for-community\/health-implications-polystyrene\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Health Implications of Polystyrene"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/","name":"Instituto para la Autosuficiencia Local","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#organization","name":"Instituto para la Autosuficiencia Local","alternateName":"ILSR","url":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es","@id":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ilsr_color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ilsr_color.png","width":509,"height":290,"caption":"Institute for Local Self-Reliance"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/localselfreliance","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/institute-for-local-self-reliance\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ilsr_org\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/14492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/14492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}