LETTERS: While we have our hands full in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, we must also give attention to another health and environmental issue — the use of polystyrene food containers.
If we order takeaway food, some traders still package the food in polystyrene containers despite a serious warning from the authorities.
We believe that they have been aware of the deleterious effects on customers' health and even the environment, but they still use them to save costs.
We are concerned, as customers have to bear the brunt of the health consequences.
We have been told that the materials used to make the containers are hazardous to our health and the environment.
The issues surrounding polystyrene food containers are not new, and many researchers have warned against the use of the material, especially for packaging food at a high temperature.
According to health experts, the product has been classified as a probable carcinogen. The chemical can easily contaminate food and drinks, and may affect our hormones and contribute to health problems.
The manufacturing of the product can also release harmful chemicals that pollute the air and water, and cause ozone layer depletion.
Many plastic products made of polystyrene are lightweight but wasteful and harmful. We can see a lot of polystyrene food containers littering tourist places, such as beaches and waterfalls.
They are slow to biodegrade, which can endanger wildlife and the delicately balanced ecosystem, especially the ocean.
They require hundreds of years to break down. Some countries have started to ban the use of the containers for food.
Despite the fact that the containers can be recycled, the recycling market is very small. However, they cannot be recycled in Malaysia.
Therefore, we would like to call on the government to ban the use and even the production of polystyrene food containers, and constantly monitor traders to ensure no one flouts the rules.
Traders should use other recyclable, healthier food containers.
Dr Faiz Masnan
Dr Mohd Shahidan Shaari
Faculty of Applied and Human Sciences
Universiti Malaysia Perlis
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times