Question

One of the most commonly used plastic items in my house is probably the plastic cups my kids drink out of.   These aren't disposable plastic cups, but I would imagine they're still made from a commodity plastic, probably high density PE or PP. Polypropylene would make more sense in this application, as it is more likely to hold up to being washed in the dishwasher and would generally last longer.

Another item the kids use regularly would be plastic spoons they take with them to school with their lunches. These are made as inexpensively as possible in bulk, but also have to have a certain amount of strength, and so I would assume they're made from PP as well.

(can someone make a commen please?)

Answer 1

Polyethylene (PE) and Polypropylene (PP) are very similar as far as physical properties. PE can stand up better in cold temperatures but it becomes easily electrostatically charged. Monomer of polyethylene is ethylene and monomer of polypropylene is propylene. PE has a lower melting point compared to the higher melting point of PP. PP is not as sturdy as PE. PP is pure, non-stretching and generally more rigid than PE.

No doubt about these organic polymers to use as a house hold materials, but be cautious not to use for very high temperatures as recently a group of american scientists proved that using plastics as a food containers at high temperatures leads to cause cancer (carcinogenic). If you have enough penny go for steel metal items as food storage containers as there is no side effects.

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