household toxins and their effects

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By 1986, styrene was found in 100 percent of all samples of human fat tissue taken as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Human Tissue Survey. Researchers found that Styrofoam cups lose weight when in use, meaning that styrene is oozing into the foods and drinks we consume. It then ends up stored in our fatty tissue, where it can build up to levels that can cause fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, blood abnormalities, and even carcinogenic effects.

(source: [www.greenhome.com])

There is also the question as to whether Styrofoam can be recycled. It can be but alot of recycling plants do not accept it because of the cost involved. Here are some other facts about Styrofoam recycling:

Polystyrene recycling is not “closed loop” – collected polystyrene cups are not remanufactured into cups, but into other products, such as packing filler and cafeteria trays. This means that more resources will have to be used, and more pollution created, to produce more polystyrene cups.
-”Plastics Industry Grasps for Straws,” Everyone’s Backyard, January/February 1990, Citizen’s Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, p. 6.
What are the real health effects of eating and drinking food from Styrofoam containers:

World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Long-term exposure to small quantities of styrene is also suspected of causing:

– low platelet counts or hemoglobin values;
– chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities;
– neurotoxic effects due to accumulation of styrene in the tissues of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, resulting in fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, and other acute or chronic health problems associated with the nervous system.

Because many of these effects can be more pronounced on developing bodies, extra caution is advisable for women who are pregnant (or considering becoming so) and for prepubescent children.

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i think every gurdwara should have a stock of sarbloh, but it's not practical to keep it for everyone... it's more expensive and difficult to find than steel. it also takes a lot more seva to maintain, and if people don't even want to wash simple steel plates, i can't imagine they'll do proper seva of sarbloh.
maybe one day...