Microwaving Your Food In Plastic Containers: Is It Really Harmful?

A few of us were out to lunch in December and got to talking about reheating leftovers in the microwave.  Several women were adament about NOT doing this.  Using plastic containers and plastic wrap in the microwave was toxic, they said.  I said I thought this might be an urban legend, so I went home and looked it up.  I used WebMD as my main source, but several articles said the same thing.

The legend says that a component of plastic, dioxin, can leach into your food when heated in the microwave, and cause all sorts of health problems.  Dioxins are unwanted byproducts, primarily of incineration, so when we burn trash, we involuntarily produce dioxins.  Because of waste incineration  and forest fires, dioxins are found pretty much anywhere in the environment.  They are an environmental contaminant.  So, dioxins are already in our bodies, hiding in the fat tissue.  They can cause a long list of health problems.

The bottom line is that it is completely safe to use any plastic container that says "microwave safe."  This does not mean that other plastic containers are not safe.  It just means that they have not had the serious inspection of those that are deemed safe.  Many other plastic containers, like used butter containers, etc. have been tested and are found to be safe.  Just avoid using old containers that are cracked.  Also, it's ok to use plastic wrap to cover food in the microwave, if you vent it.

Whew.  I'm so glad I found out that what I've been doing for years isn't going to kill me!  It's important to check out the validity of urban legends such as this one.  Especially with all the fake news we're seeing these days.