Disposable Plastic Food Containers Increase CVD Risk

In this Article (Index)

• Disposable Plastic Food Containers harm heart health
• Plastics and their Risks
• Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis

Disposable Plastic Food Containers harm heart health

Single-use plastics are used for many purposes (bags, bottles, wrappers, cutlery, and straws) and their use is widespread in takeout foods.

Rigid polystyrene (PS) and foamed PS dishes and containers are commonly used by restaurants for takeaway food.

Have you ever thought about the health risks involved in placing hot food in a plastic container, and then reheating it in a microwave oven?

A new study (1) did precisely that. It investigated the adverse health effects of eating food from disposable plastic containers.

As suspected, the study revealed that eating food from plastic takeaway containers can cause heart disease. It found a link between the plastic chemicals leached from the container during microwaving or in contact with boiling water and harmful health effects.

The two-part study investigated first of all, if there was an association between heart disease and how often a group of 3,179 Chinese subjects used plastic takeout containers, and in a second part, the effects on rats of the chemicals leached by boiling water from these containers, by having them drink it.

The study found that the risk of heart failure increased by 13% in those who used these takeaway containers more frequently:

High-frequency exposure to plastics is significantly associated with an increased risk of congestive heart failure, with an odds ratio of 1.13 Yueping Wu, et al., (2025) (1)

The rats drank water that had been obtained by placing boiling water in disposable plastic takeout containers for 1, 5, or 5 minutes, and did so for 3 months. This altered the gut microbiota.

The additives used in plastics that leached into their water, provoked changes in the diversity of the microbes that live in their guts, as well as inflammation, alteration in the mitochondria, and oxidative stress in the heart muscle or myocardium, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The study concluded that "plastic exposure as a significant CVD risk factor regardless of duration. It leads to changes in myocardial tissue, gut microbiota, and metabolites, all closely tied to CVD."

Plastics and their Risks

Plastic bottles and containers release millions of micro and nanoplastics into the body through the food and beverage that they contain.

A 2023 study (a) noted that microwaving a polypropylene plastic container for 3 minutes "could release as many as 4.22 million microplastic and 2.11 billion nanoplastic particles from only one square centimeter of plastic area."

Plastics contain not only a polymer (polystyrene, PET, or PVC), but they also contain plasticizers, pigments, and a wide range of additives (lubricants, UV protectors, antioxidants, anti-degradants, etc.) These additives can cause hormonal (endocrine) disruption and metabolic changes like inflammation, alterations in immunity, heart disease, and toxicity. (See our webpage on Obesogens)

Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis

Other studies have shown that polystyrene microplastics like those used in disposable plastic cutlery caused an alteration in the gut microbiota in rats (dysbiosis), (b) which in turn affects the intestinal barrier ("leaky gut"), allowing harmful metabolites like TMAO (Trimethylamine N-oxide) and endotoxins like lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to enter the bloodstream causing inflammation, plaque and major adverse cardiovascular events. (c)

Changes in the gut microbiota's diversity and quantity alter the immune system and act in negative ways along the gut-brain axis.

In this study, the authors speculate whether the metal oxides and other chemicals found in plastics cause an increase in the presence of free radicals (reactive oxygen species or ROS), that damage the body's cells, and at the same time reduce the body's antioxidant enzymes leading to an increase in inflammation and CVD.