How Safe Are Acrylic Drinking Glasses? Debunking Acrylic Myths
If you’re looking for the perfect drinkware for your everyday use, acrylic drinking glasses are a practical choice. They are inexpensive, versatile, and highly durable, making them ideal for home, commercial, or industrial applications. But are acrylic glasses safe?
Compared to other plastic drinkware, acrylic drinking glasses are much safer to use. It is because, unlike most plastic drinking glasses, they do not contain and release Bisphenol A (BPA). A potentially harmful chemical, BPA may cause several health issues such as infertility, thyroid disease, metabolic dysfunction, and other hormone-related problems.
In choosing acrylic drinking glasses over other plastic drinkware, you do not have to worry about BPA and its effects on your health. But how to make sure that you are buying the right product and that it is safe for you and your family? Here, we provide a few tips that might help you:
Generally, acrylic plasticware, whether transparent or tinted, is labeled “Hand wash” or “Top-rack dishwasher safe.” So to make sure that you are buying acrylic drinking glasses and not polycarbonate ones, look out for these labels.
Acrylic is a transparent thermoplastic mostly made in sheet form. Technically named Polymethyl methacrylate or PMMA, it is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate. It is known for its high transparency, tensile strength, and UV resistance and has gained popularity since its first introduction to the market in 1933.
A non-crystalline vitreous substance, acrylic is often classified as a type of glass and occasionally called acrylic glass. It may look like glass, but acrylic is reusable, impact-proof, and wear-resistant, just like other plastics.
Although acrylic is breakable, it does not easily shatter as glass would. It has impact strength many times higher than that of glass, and it will take extreme force to break it. Also, unlike glass, acrylic will not shatter into tiny, dangerously sharp shards.
Considered as one of the clearest plastics on the market, acrylic is commonly used to substitute glass. It provides the same aesthetics and elegance as glass. But unlike glass, acrylic is lightweight and shatter-resistant, allowing easy handling and cleaning. Also, acrylic is less costly and low maintenance. Although the best material for your drinkware in terms of safety is glass, some people prefer acrylic for practical reasons and the many advantages it offers.
Most plasticware contains additives that are not chemically bonded to the basic plastic polymer. These additives tend to leach when subject to thermal or chemical changes. Leaching is the process where chemicals from the plastic container transfer or leak into its content—your food or drink. So to reduce exposure to potentially harmful substances, like styrene, phthalates, and dioxin, try to avoid leaching as much as possible. Check these few ways to do so:
To make your acrylic drinking glasses last longer, here are simple tricks to follow:
Choosing the right drinking glasses is as important as drinking clean water. It will have a tremendous effect on your health in the long run. So whether you prefer glass or plastic, take the time to do your research before deciding on buying any drinkware.
We hope that this article helped you in your journey of finding the right drinking glasses. If you like this post, share it with your friends or let us know in the comment section.
Thanks for pointing out that acrylic does not easily shatter since it has impact strength many times higher than glass. This could be considered by manufacturing companies that need to find the best material to pack their items in a cost-effective way. I could imagine how food items could be safely be placed in the market with the right acrylic products. https://plasticproductsinc.com/products/acrylic/