Hey, Campers! It's not Styrofoam, It's Styrene, and its OK

 That's right.  The disposable cups, plates, and bowls we commonly refer to as Stryofoam are not really Styrofoam.  Styrofoam is a trademark of Dow Chemical and applies to their specific brand of styrene insulation products. Dow doesn't make any styrene dinner ware, so technically, there are no Styrofoam cups or plates, even though we call them that.

Why would Styrofoam be the subject of a camping blog?  Well, lots of the disposable dishes we use when camping are made of what we call commonly call Styrofoam.  So are many of the packages our provisions come in.   Technically, these containers are made of polystyrene, not Styrofoam. No matter what we call it, it is inexpensive, light weight, and, according to some studies, has a lower overall environmental impact than paper dinnerware, although it is slow to decompose in landfills or along the roadside.  There are various warnings given about burning "Styrofoam" with claims that it gives off toxic fumes.  The carbon-hydrogen ratio in styrene is about 1:1 and it gives off a lot of water vapor, CO2, CO, and carbon, hence the black, sooty smoke.  There may indeed be some styrene in the fumes, but from what I've been able to find, it is a small amount and most of the fumes consist of CO2 and water vapor. However, Carbon Monoxide (CO) is one of the byproducts and is indeed a dangerous gas and should be avoided.  Some reports claim burning styrene is less toxic than burning ordinary wood but first hand accounts by a fire fighter give the opposite opinion.  He found if he entered a fire where there was "Styrofoam" without wearing his mask and breathing apparatus (why the heck would he do that?) he'd get sick but didn't get sick around ordinary wood fires.  Perhaps he was allergic to something in the smoke from styrene.  True Styrofoam is used as insulation in many RVs.   Sometimes you can add Styrofoam panels to enhance the insulation in closets and cabinets or when you have walls open for repair.   I pulled the cab headliner down in my Class B van conversion and inserted a Styrofoam panel that kept the cab warmer in winter and cooler in summer.  Styrofoam used as insulation shouldn't ever be a problem, unless your RV catches fire.  Campers are more likely to be exposed to possible risks burning styrene plates, cups, and bowls in their campfires.   But unless you burn a lot at once and you stand downwind and deliberately inhale the smoke you probably won't be in any danger.  As mentioned above, most of the by products are water vapor and carbon dioxide, not much different from burning wood or paper.

There is some concern that styrene from foam containers leeches into the food in them.   One article claimed over three years of drinking four cups of coffee per day from a styrene cup you would ingest the equivalent of an entire styrene cup.  Though certainly not an accurate representation of how it might affect one, I have visions of thousands of little white foam BBs flowing in my bloodstream. Ycch!  But styrene occurs naturally in many other sources ranging from cigarette smoke to cinnamon, so it is pretty hard to avoid it completely.  There are some studies that claim styrene mimics estrogen and can affect hormonal balance.   Wonder if the big macho guy slurping down a steaming, extra large double latte from a styrene cup every morning knows that.

What does this mean to campers?  First of all, the amount of Styrofoam we would normally be burning when disposing of our plates and cups will be fairly small and, burning them in an open campfire should provide sufficient ventilation to prevent any serious threats.   They also burn very quickly, minimizing exposure.   However, I would not recommend standing downwind of your fire when burning plastic plates and cups where you might get higher concentrations.  Of course you don't want to stand downwind anyway, unless you WANT to smell like burning garbage!  If nothing else, the lack of definitive information leaves the possibility of dangerous fumes.  Styrofoam is listed as an aromatic hydrocarbon and does give off some soot when it burns and soot is not a good thing to be breathing unless you want black lungs.  And I really don't like the idea of breathing carbon monoxide at all!   I would try to avoid burning large amounts of styrene containers all at once but prefer to burn them fairly soon after use rather than accumulate a big bag and then burning them all at once.  I wouldn't want to burn them in an indoor fireplace or woodstove.

The bottom line: don't panic if you accidentally toss some Styrofoam into your campfire, but to be on the safe side, avoid it if you can.  If you do choose to burn it, burn only a few items at a time.  I would definitely avoid collecting a huge bag of Styrofoam dinnerware and putting it all on the fire at once.  And remember to stand upwind of the fire. If nothing else, the burning foam and the garbage left on the plates will create some rather nasty smelling black smoke that you won't want collecting in your hair or on your skin or clothes let alone getting in your lungs!   Inhaling any byproducts of combustion is never a good thing.

It is likely the benefits of Styrofoam plates, bowls, and cups for campers out weigh the risks. Light weight, strength, resistance to heat transfer,  low cost, and convenience are some of the benefits.  And even though it is slow to break down in landfills, its overall environmental footprint is pretty favorable.  I'm going to continue to use them, and try not to breathe the smoke when I put them in my campfire.

Maybe strofoam-ing at the mouth isn't as bad as some people make it out to be.