[HN Gopher] A team of hepatologists explore the effects of caffe...
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       A team of hepatologists explore the effects of caffeine on liver
       health (2021)
        
       Author : thelastgallon
       Score  : 7 points
       Date   : 2023-09-29 20:48 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.michiganmedicine.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.michiganmedicine.org)
        
       | SoftTalker wrote:
       | We've got a Keurig (sp?) machine at the office and I've started
       | wondering if those little plastic pods are leaching microplastics
       | or other plastic-ish hydrocarbons into my coffee.
        
         | tristor wrote:
         | Yes.
        
           | gnulinux wrote:
           | My sense is you're likely correct but do you have a source? I
           | can't find confirmation and Keurig itself claims:
           | 
           | > Keurig(r) pods are BPA-free and constructed using only FDA
           | approved food grade materials. In addition, the temperature
           | of the water dispensed in Keurig(r) brewers is well below the
           | melting and softening points of the pod materials. Therefore,
           | no plastic leaches from the pod into your beverage.
           | 
           | It _might_ be marketing-speak.
        
             | donavanm wrote:
             | My partner is a biologist, finishing up a bio/chem phd
             | specifically on detecting nano/microplastics in situ and
             | their genomic effects. From my exposure to her work
             | everything there is marketing speak. BPA is just one
             | plasticizer that got too much bad press. There will be BPS,
             | BPF, and/or a host of other plasticizers in those pods.
             | None of them are innocuous. Passing acidic 90C water sounds
             | like a pretty good extraction system for all sorts of
             | compounds.
        
             | tristor wrote:
             | I don't have a source, because I'm not even sure if a study
             | has ever been done. But my basic common sense tells me that
             | putting hot (to boiling) water through plastic intended to
             | be cheap enough it is disposable is likely going to leach
             | some sort of plastics into the resultant beverage. BPA is
             | not the only thing that can leach out of plastic.
        
         | rqtwteye wrote:
         | They are certainly producing a lot of plastic trash.
        
           | pan69 wrote:
           | It's the primary reason I stopped using coffee machines like
           | that.
        
         | chasd00 wrote:
         | oh just wait until you find out what the water fountain is
         | doing to you. And you don't even want to know about the myriad
         | ways the elevator is slowly killing you. Just sayin.
        
         | robotnikman wrote:
         | Makes me wonder if there is other materials those cups could be
         | made out of instead of plastic. Maybe paper or cardboard would
         | be better.
        
           | beanjuiceII wrote:
           | last time people thought that about straws, and we ended up
           | getting cancerous paper straws that are worse than plastic
           | straws
        
           | sandworm101 wrote:
           | Tinfoil. Aluminum is extremely easy to recycle. Make coffee
           | pods like soda cans, then toss them into soda can recycling.
           | The smelter doesn't care whether they once held coke or
           | coffee.
        
             | spiderice wrote:
             | Won't 95% of them get thrown in the trash though? Do soda
             | cans that are thrown in the trash can eventually make their
             | way to recycling? And if not, is it a waste to consider how
             | recyclable they are? There are probably obvious questions
             | to some, but I genuinely don't know.
        
               | Clamchop wrote:
               | My experience has been that people are pretty good about
               | recycling cans and plastic bottles. But, the pods might
               | see less compliance. People get iffy if they think
               | something is too dirty to be recycled, and maybe it is,
               | so they have to open it and rinse it first, which also
               | doesn't help compliance...
        
           | jrs235 wrote:
           | Nespresso pods are made out of aluminum. I was wondering the
           | other day if that's leaching into the coffee. I hear aluminum
           | is not good to consume.
        
         | imchillyb wrote:
         | Purchase a metal basket from Amazon. They're about seven
         | dollars. I have one at the office, and use my own coffee
         | grounds.
        
         | orochimaaru wrote:
         | I went old style. Coffee beans, grinder and a French press.
         | It's awesome. But like all good things in life you need to wait
         | 5-10 mins for coffee.
        
           | glimshe wrote:
           | For me the biggest problem is the washing... but coffee
           | tastes better this way.
        
         | Ancalagon wrote:
         | If it's any form of plastic, I guarantee some amount is leaking
         | in esp if it's hot water being pushed through it.
        
         | figers wrote:
         | you can switch to reusable metal ones with your coffee of
         | choice
        
       | Aldipower wrote:
       | From 8 to 4 coffee then beer.
        
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       (page generated 2023-09-29 23:02 UTC)