Polystyrene, an addition polymer of styrene, is clear, hard, and brittle with a

relatively low melting point. It can be mono-extruded, co-extruded with other

plastics, injection molded, or foamed to produce a range of products.
Foaming produces an opaque, rigid, lightweight material with impact
protection and thermal insulation properties. Typical applications include
protective packaging such as egg cartons, containers, disposable plastic
silverware, lids, cups, plates, bottles, and food trays. In expanded form,
polystyrene is used for nonfood packaging and cushioning, and it can be
recycled or incinerated.
Polystyrene meets stringent U.S. FDA standards for use in food contact
packaging and is safe for consumers. Health organizations encourage the
use of single-use food service products, including polystyrene, because they
provide increased food safety. All packaging (glass, aluminum, paper, and
plastic including polystyrene) contains substances that can migrate, or
transfer, to foods or beverages. The FDA regulates residual levels of these
components in food packaging to ensure that packaging is safe to use.

FDA Requirements for Polystyrene Plates

Consumption Factor
The postulated dietary consumption of a substance depends on the potential
level in food (e.g., a value derived from migration studies or calculations
intended to reflect the results of migration studies) on the fraction of an
individuals diet likely to contact packaging materials containing the
substance. FDA employs the term, Consumption Factor (CF), to describe
the portion of the diet likely to contact specific packaging materials. A CF is
the ratio of the weight of food contacting a specific packaging material to the
weight of all food packaged. FDA has developed Food-Type Distribution
Factors (fT) for each packaging material to indicate the fraction of the food
contacting each material that is aqueous, acidic, alcoholic, and fatty. Using
these parameters, along with the experimentally or mathematically
determined potential migration levels, the possible dietary exposure to a
component of food-contact articles can be determined. FDA has established
a default CF value of 0.14 for polystyrene.

Density: 1.04 g/cm3 for GPPS and HIPS, and 0.05 g/cm3 for PS foam
and EPS foam
Thickness: 0.025 cm (0.01 in) for GPPS and HIPS, and 0.51 cm (0.2 in)
for PS foam and EPS foam
Food-to-surface area ratio: FDAs default assumption for food
packaging generally of 10 g food/in2

Daily food intake per person: FDAs default assumption of 3000 g

food/person/day

Calculated Levels of Styrene Migration and

Dietary Exposure
The time and temperature of contact used for this application is 4.4C
(277.4K) for 10 days. Using equations the diffusion coefficient is calculated
to be 4.5 x 10-12 cm 2 /sec along with this diffusion coefficient, the time (10
days, equivalent to 864000 seconds), the residual styrene concentration
(352 parts per million (ppm)), and the standard PS foam density (0.05
g/cm3 ), the migration is calculated to be 25.3 ppb. The dietary
concentration (DC) for styrene from this application is calculated to be
0.3438 parts per billion (ppb).

Analysis and Conclusions

Using the updated CFs for the specific uses, an updated dietary exposure for
styrene of 1.66 ppb in the diet has been calculated for the food packaging
uses an updated styrene exposure of 2.20 ppb in the diet attributable to food
packaging has been calculated for all polystyrene uses. The latter is lower
than the 3.0 ppb in the diet dietary concentration determined in the 1995.
The acceptable daily intake (ADI) for styrene is considered to be 90,000
g/person/day. The dietary concentration of 2.20 ppb of styrene attributable
to food packaging using FDAs default assumption that an individual
consumes a daily diet of 3.0 kilograms of food (all solids and liquids) results
in an estimated daily intake (EDI) of 6.6 g/person/day (0.0066
mg/person/day).
Reference (The Safety of Styrene-Based Polymers for Food-Contact Use 2013, by
Plastics Foodservice Packaging Group PFPG FDA Task Force)

Market
Due to attractive look, low weight, ease of transportation and low
permeability, thermoformed disposable cups and trays are finding
tremendous market in packaging of food products, particularly Ice creams
which is as high as 30%. The demand for thermoformed disposables is
growing for drinking water, Tea, Coffee, soft drinks and packing dairy
products. The global consumption of single-use disposable food and drink
containers such as lunch boxes, cups and bowls is estimated at 438 billion
units per year. Out of which the consumption of thermoformed disposable
cups is 21% of the total disposable items.

Investment
The investment for setting up a Thermoform Disposables manufacturing
Plant works out to Rs. 1.11 Crores. The land requirement will be around 0.5
acres. The Preliminary & Pre-operative expense works out to Rs 0.11 crores.
Plant & Machinery including installation, erecting & transportation charges
are of 0.23 Crores. Margin money for working capital is estimated to be 0.06
Crores. (THERMOFORM DISPOSABLES PREPARED BY APITCO limited
Engineering Growth)