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Sorry, your paper coffee cup is a toxic nightmare

A recently published study shows that paper cups can be just as toxic as conventional plastic ones if they end up littered in our natural environment. Seemingly eco-friendly paper cups are coated with a thin layer of plastic to keep their contents from seeping into the paper, and this lining can emit toxic substances. “There are chemicals leaching out of these materials,” says lead author Bethanie Carney Almroth, an associate professor of environmental science at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.