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Learned something today regarding plastic containers

M

Madman960

New member
Hey everyone. Just thought I would share this. A few years ago when I was studying Homebrew beer 🍺, there was lots of info on the number inside the triangle on most plastic containers. When I did my research, it was said only use things with the numbers 1 or 2 as they were the only food safe. So, today I happened to notice the number 5 on the bottom of a yogurt container. So, I looked it up. Apparently, number 5 is food safe as well. Those items with the 5 are mainly used for dry storage or for beverages/yogurt/other liquids that don't get heated. It is possible, that the plastics with the number 5 are not suitable to 🍺, due to leaching of chemicals from the plastic. Not sure if chemicals from hydroponics would cause leaching. I see lots of growers using their empty cat litter containers for growing. ( hydroponics and soil ) They have the number 5 on them so I guess it's fairly safe. Definitely safe for soil.

Just posting in case some people wonder if they should use them or not like I did. Sorry about the rambling.

Happy growing.

Madman
 
Good info Madman, thank you for sharing this. I found some more info on plastic leeching here: https://www.livescience.com/5487-murky-truth-leaching-plastic-bottles.html

The problem with plastics leeching comes from BPA or bisphenol A which is found in some plastics. Below is an excerpt from the above link regarding the BPA-free recycle codes. As you mentioned, code 5 is free of BPA. In fact, only recycle number 3 appears to contain it. Hope this helps clear things up for others. Now I am off to check my new reservoir to see if it is recycle code 3 or not! Thanks again for sharing!

BPA alternatives?

Normally such suggestive but inconclusive studies only would raise an eyebrow. But fortunately there are alternatives to BPA-laced products if you want to take action. Essentially any plastic bottle with the plastic identification "recycle" code of 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6 is free of BPA. Number 3 plastic can contain it.

Number 7 plastic, a hodgepodge of various newer plastics not defined by numbers 1 through 6, often contains BPA. Then again, new plastics purposefully free of BPA might carry the number 7. And other plastics might be hard to recycle (#4 and 5) or porous enough to harbor bacteria (#1).
 
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