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Melamine dishes?

post #1 of 5
6/10/07 at 3:30pm
Thread Starter 
Are these safe? I am trying to do some research, but can't find much info...from what I've read, the reason melamine was a problem in the pet food was b/c it was mixed with cyanuric acid. There is the cutest melamine dish set I want to get for ds, but I am wary of plastic.

Anyone know about melamine? I know it is not microwave safe.
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post #2 of 5
6/11/07 at 1:45am
We use melamine dishes for our dd but we hand wash them so they are not exposed to any heat in dishwasher. That is problem with micro - too hot. I think that it is hard enough that it does not have enough bpa or phthalates to be a problem. When it gets scratched up, we will toss it but hopefully dd will be able to use ceramic by then without breaking one daily.
post #3 of 5
6/11/07 at 1:45pm
There was a discussion about this before, and it was inconclusive. Nobody could find any research showing anything bad. The melamine in the pet food poisonings is the powered form which is the precursor to the hard plastic form. There's a wikipedia entry detailing how it's made.

Melamine can be brittle, I've dropped some and broken them. But it's cheap enough to replace. You can get cute stuff at Target for $3-4.
post #4 of 5
3/28/08 at 1:29pm
Melamine won't release BPA, which is the chemical to be concerned about in polycarbonate plastics, commonly marked with a number 7. Melamine is a nitrogen-containing chemical that is used as a fire retardant and when combined with formaldehyde forms a resin. Melamine products are not known to release formaldehyde gases and as far as we know are safe for food. But melamine dishes should not be used in the microwave. Before putting ANY dishes in the microwave, you should check the bottom to see if they are microwave safe and not marked with a number 7.

Here's more information about plastics in the microwave, if you're interested:

http://www.simplesteps.org/content/view//334/37

I work for NRDC, an environmental organization. This information is from NRDC's website, www.simplesteps.org, and has been vetted by our staff scientists and doctors. I hope it was helpful.

Thanks,
Kay
post #5 of 5
3/28/08 at 3:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kay McGraw View Post
Melamine won't release BPA, which is the chemical to be concerned about in polycarbonate plastics, commonly marked with a number 7. Melamine is a nitrogen-containing chemical that is used as a fire retardant and when combined with formaldehyde forms a resin. Melamine products are not known to release formaldehyde gases and as far as we know are safe for food. But melamine dishes should not be used in the microwave. Before putting ANY dishes in the microwave, you should check the bottom to see if they are microwave safe and not marked with a number 7.

Here's more information about plastics in the microwave, if you're interested:

http://www.simplesteps.org/content/view//334/37

I work for NRDC, an environmental organization. This information is from NRDC's website, www.simplesteps.org, and has been vetted by our staff scientists and doctors. I hope it was helpful.

Thanks,
Kay
thanks so much for this info--i've also been wondering about melamine resin dishes and haven't found much info.