Do disposable plastic cups leach toxic chemicals into alcoholic drinks?

What's actually in it

Disposable plastic cups are usually made from polystyrene, polypropylene, or PET. These plastics contain additives like plasticizers, stabilizers, and colorants that aren't permanently locked into the material. When you pour a drink into one, some of those chemicals migrate into the liquid. Alcohol speeds this up because it's a solvent: it pulls chemicals out of plastic faster than water does.

What the research says

A 2026 study in Environ Res soaked disposable plastic cups in alcohol solutions and then tested what leached out. The leachates contained a mix of plastic-derived chemicals. When researchers exposed brain cells to these chemicals, the cells showed clear signs of damage.

The study went further and tested the effects in living animals. Mice exposed to the plastic-alcohol leachates had worse memory and cognitive performance compared to controls. The researchers traced the damage to a specific molecular pathway called mir-330-3p/Acsl1, which controls how brain cells process fats and maintain their membranes.

In plain terms: alcohol dissolves chemicals out of the cup. Those chemicals get into your brain. And they mess with the way brain cells work.

The effect was worse with longer contact time and higher alcohol concentrations. Leaving a drink sitting in a plastic cup for hours at a party means more leaching. Stronger drinks pull out more chemicals than beer or wine.