Does Paper straw have microplastics?
The short answer
Not the upgrade it looks like. A paper straw only survives a drink because it is bonded and coated, and testing in Europe has repeatedly found PFAS in paper and plant-based straws — often at higher rates than in the plastic ones they replaced.
Why Paper straw scores 45
Paper alone disintegrates in liquid — the barrier coating is what makes the product possible
European market surveys have found PFAS in a majority of paper and bamboo straws tested, more often than in plastic ones
The straw softens and sheds fibre into the drink as you use it, which is visible and is the common complaint
Held in the mouth throughout, same as a plastic straw
Where the 45 comes from
Five components, added. The page renders the parts rather than a stored total, so the number cannot disagree with the reasoning behind it.
- Packaging contact
- 16 / 30
- Use conditions
- 14 / 25
- Measured release
- 10 / 25
- Polymer behaviour
- 5 / 10
- Processing
- 0 / 10
What material touches the contents, over how much surface area, for how long. Glass and steel score near zero here; a film pressed against fatty food scores near the top.
Heat, abrasion, flexing, repeated opening, reuse beyond design life. The same bottle scores differently in a fridge and in a hot car.
What a laboratory actually counted, for this product or its category. A high number here means real particles were measured, not that the material looks suspicious.
How this specific polymer behaves — brittleness, fat solubility of its additives, thermal stability, whether it is a polymer named in existing restrictions.
What happened before you bought it. Retort sterilisation inside the pack, hot-filling, and pressurised brewing all happen at the most migration-favourable moment.
What we don't know
PFAS and microplastics are different contaminant families and the paper-straw story is mostly a PFAS one. Particle release from a disintegrating coated paper straw has not been measured. What is well established is that "paper" here does not mean "uncoated", which is the assumption the product trades on.
This section is on every page in the database, including the ones where the answer is comfortable. How evidence grades work →
Better options
Ordered by how much they change, not by how much they cost.
No straw
genuinely the best option and the cheapest
Stainless steel or glass straw
no coating, no fibre, reusable indefinitely
A plastic straw is not obviously worse
an uncomfortable conclusion, and the testing supports it
Check the one in your kitchen
This page scores Paper straw as a product. Formulations, packaging and suppliers change, and the specific item you own has its own condition — a scratched pan and a new one are not the same object. Scan yours for a score built from what is actually in front of you.
Scan my householdSources behind this score
Each with the finding we use it for and the limitation that finding carries — because a study quoted without its boundaries is how this subject got so noisy.
- peer-reviewed2021
Ranjan 2021 — A disposable paper cup released roughly 25,000 micron-sized particles into 100 mL of hot water within 15 minutes — about the life of a takeaway coffee.
Limitation: Hot deionised water rather than coffee or tea, and a single cup type. It shows the polyethylene lining degrades at drinking temperature; it does not quantify a dose from a real latte.
- report2026
Earth Action 2026 — Estimated roughly 1,000 tonnes of microplastics migrate from packaging into food and drink annually — about 130 mg per person per year — with PET bottles responsible for around a third, and found UV exposure can raise release up to 100×.
Limitation: An industry-funded modelling exercise, not a laboratory study, and not peer-reviewed. We use it for the relative ranking of formats rather than for any absolute number.
- agency2026
US FDA — States that current scientific evidence does not demonstrate that the levels of microplastics detected in foods pose a risk to human health, while listing detection and characterisation as a research priority.
Limitation: A statement about the state of evidence, not a finding of safety. "Not demonstrated to be harmful" and "demonstrated to be harmless" are different claims, and the agency is explicit that the research is ongoing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Paper straw have microplastics?
How was the Paper straw score of 45 calculated?
Is Paper straw safe?
Why is the confidence only 58%?
Scored next to this
Plastic straw
Polypropylene tube
Grade C · 56%
Starbucks hot paper cup
Paperboard with a polyethylene inner lining and a polypropylene lid
Grade B · 76%
Disposable plastic cutlery
Polystyrene or polypropylene
Grade C · 58%
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