{"id":20789,"date":"2026-02-25T16:22:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T13:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/mena\/%d8%a3%d9%88%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b7%d8%b9%d8%a7%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%8a%d9%83%d9%8a%d8%a9\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T11:23:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:23:25","slug":"reheating-plastic-food-containers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/mena\/en\/reheating-plastic-food-containers\/","title":{"rendered":"Reheating plastic food containers: what science says about microplastics and chemicals in our meals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
A new report from Greenpeace found that the plastics we use to package our food are directly risking our health<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

How often do you eat takeaway food? What about microwaving some leftovers you had in the fridge? In any of these cases, there\u2019s a pretty good chance the container was made out of plastic. Considering that they can be an extremely affordable option, are there any potential downsides we need to be aware of? We decided to investigate.<\/p>\n\n

Scientific research increasingly shows that heating food in plastic packaging can release microplastics and plastic chemicals into the food we eat. A new Greenpeace International review of peer-reviewed studies finds that microwaving plastic food containers significantly increases this release, raising concerns about long-term human health impacts, such as cancer, infertility, and metabolic disease. This article summarises what the science says, what remains uncertain, and what needs to change. <\/p>\n\n

There\u2019s no shortage of research showing how microplastics and nanoplastics have made their way throughout the environment, from snowy mountaintops<\/a> and Arctic ice<\/a>, into the beetles, slugs, snails and earthworms at the bottom of the food chain<\/a>. It\u2019s a similar story with humans, with microplastics found in blood, placenta, lungs, liver and plenty of other places<\/a>. On top of this, there\u2019s some 16,000 chemicals<\/a> known to be either present or used in plastic, with a bit over a quarter of those chemicals already identified as being of concern. And there are already just under 1,400 chemicals<\/a> that have been found in people.<\/p>\n\n

Not just food packaging, but plenty of household items either contain or are made from plastic, meaning they potentially could be a source of exposure as well. So if microplastics and chemicals are everywhere (including inside us), how are they getting there? Should we be concerned that a lot of our food is packaged in plastic?<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Greenpeace analysis of 24 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals found that the plastics we use to package our food are directly risking our health. Heating food in plastic packaging dramatically increases the levels of microplastics and chemicals that leach into our food.
\u00a9 Jack Taylor Gotch \/ Greenpeace 
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Plastic food packaging: the good, the bad, and the ugly<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The growing trend towards online shopping and restaurant delivery, and away from home-prepared meals and individual grocery shopping, is happening in every region of the world. <\/p>\n\n

A new report from Greenpeace International set out to analyse articles in peer-reviewed, scientific journals to look at what exactly the research has to say about plastic food packaging and food contact plastics.<\/p>\n\n

Here\u2019s what we found.<\/p>\n\n

Our review of 24 recent articles highlights a consistent picture that regulators, businesses and<\/p>\n\n

consumers should be concerned about: when food is packaged in plastic and then microwaved, this significantly increases the risk of both microplastic and chemical release, and that these microplastics and chemicals will leach into the food inside the packaging. <\/p>\n\n

And not just some, but a lot of microplastics and chemicals.<\/p>\n\n

When polystyrene and polypropylene containers filled with water were microwaved after being stored in the fridge or freezer, one study found they released anywhere between 100,000-260,000 microplastic particles, and another found that five minutes of microwave heating could release between 326,000-534,000 particles into food. <\/p>\n\n

Similarly there are a wide range of chemicals that can be and are released when plastic is heated. Across different plastic types, there are estimated to be around 16,000 different chemicals<\/a> that can either be used or present in plastics, and of these around 4,200 are identified as being hazardous, whilst many others lack any form of identification (hazardous or otherwise) at all.

The research also showed that 1,396 food contact plastic chemicals have been found in humans, several of which are known to be hazardous to human health. At the same time, there are many chemicals for which no research into the long-term effects on human health exists.<\/p>\n\n

Ultimately, we are left with evidence pointing towards increased release of microplastics and plastic chemicals into food from heating, the regular migration of microplastics and chemicals into food, and concerns around what long-term impacts these substances have on human health, which range from uncertain to identified harm.<\/p>\n\n

\"Illustrated
Heating food in plastic containers, even those labelled \u201cmicrowave safe\u201d or \u201coven safe\u201d, can release microplastics, nanoplastics and toxic chemicals into our meals. From ready meals to leftovers, common plastics like PET, PP and PS break down under heat, contaminating food we eat every day. This visual explains how plastic packaging turns heat into hidden exposure.
\u00a9 William Morris-Julien \/ Greenpeace <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

We\u2019ve been here before: lessons from tobacco, asbestos and lead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Although none of this sounds particularly great, this is not without precedence. Between what we do and don\u2019t know, waiting for perfect evidence is costly both economically and in terms of human health. With tobacco, asbestos, and lead, a similar story to what we\u2019re seeing now has played out before. After initial evidence suggesting problems and toxicity, lobbyists from these industries pushed back to sow doubt about the scientific validity of the findings, delaying meaningful action. And all the while, between 1950-2000, tobacco alone led to the deaths of around 60 million people. Whilst distinguishing between correlation and causation, and finding proper evidence is certainly important, it’s also important to take preventative action early, rather than wait for more people to be hurt in order to definitively prove the point.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
But as it stands currently, the precautionary principle isn\u2019t applied to plastics. For REACH in particular, plastics are assessed on a risk-based approach, which means that, as the plastic industry itself has pointed out, something can be identified as being extremely hazardous, but is still allowed to be used in production if the leached chemical stays below \u201csafe\u201d levels, despite that for some chemicals a \u201csafe\u201d low dose is either undefined, unknown, or doesn\u2019t exist.
\u00a9 Jack Taylor Gotch \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Where to from here?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Governments aren\u2019t acting fast enough to reduce our exposure and protect our health. There\u2019s no shortage of things we can do to improve this situation. The most critical one is to make and consume less plastic. This is a global problem that requires a strong Global Plastics Treaty that reduces global plastic production by at least 75% by 2040 and eliminates harmful plastics and chemicals<\/a>. And it\u2019s time that corporations take this growing threat to their customers’ health seriously, starting with their food packaging and food contact products. Here are a number of specific actions policymakers and companies can take, and helpful hints for consumers.<\/p>\n\n

Policymakers & companies<\/h4>\n\n