An Instagram influencer, who is also a yoga and nutrition coach, has shared a video revealing the secret plastic coating inside steel and aluminium cans. While the practice has existed for decades, not many people consuming these beverages know about a hidden material concealed inside the metal cylinders.
In the video, Adithya Nataraj first uses sandpaper to remove the outer paint of a Coke can and then puts it inside a beaker containing a heavy-duty drain cleaner. In a few minutes, the can completely dissolves and the metal also disappears. When the can is lifted out of the container, one can see the transparent plastic coating left behind.
Mr Nataraj shared a video of the experiment and wrote, ''Coke Cans and other soft drink cans in general contain a thin layer of plastic to protect the can from the soft drink inside. Apart from the extreme amounts of sugar in these drinks, here is another reason to avoid these drinks - Microplastics and other toxic substances leaching from the container (plastic bottle, plastic lining) to your drink.''
Watch the video here:
He also explained the science behind it, ''Soft Drink cans are made from an Aluminium Alloy and the Drain cleaner here is a solution of NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide). These two react in an exothermic reaction which produces a lot of heat. The drain cleaner (NaOH) only reacts and dissolves the Aluminium, it does not react with the plastic layer. This is also the reason NaOH is usually stored in plastic containers.''
Notably, aluminium beverage cans are coated internally with plastic to prevent acidic drinks from corroding the aluminium and to both prevent leakage and drink contamination.
While scientists and people in the beverage industry have known about this for decades, the public has largely remained oblivious to this fact.
