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FalsePoliticsLast updated: June 6, 2026

Paper Straws Explode

The claim that paper straws 'explode' is false in any literal sense. Paper straws can soften, collapse, or split apart when soaked, especially in hot or fizzy drinks, but they do not detonate, burst, or rupture violently. The 'explode' framing was popularised by Donald Trump when he signed an executive order in February 2025 reversing federal limits on plastic straws.

What we know

The viral 'paper straws explode' claim entered mainstream discourse on February 10, 2025, when U.S. President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 'Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws' in the Oval Office. While signing, Trump told reporters: 'These things don't work. I've had them many times, and on occasion, they break, they explode. If something's hot, they don't last very long, like a matter of minutes, sometimes a matter of seconds. It's a ridiculous situation, so we're going back to plastic straws.' The remark was reported verbatim by the BBC, Reuters, AP, and Le Monde, and the executive order itself is published on whitehouse.gov.

Materials science does not support the literal claim. Paper straws are typically made from two or three layers of food-grade paper laminated with a thin coating. Under humid or wet conditions, paper straws lose roughly 80 to 90 percent of their compressive strength within 30 minutes, according to a 2019 study cited by industry sources and by The Independent. A 2024 paper in the Journal of Cleaner Production reports baseline flexural strength of 13.45 MPa for paper-based straws. The failure mode in these studies is softening, buckling, splitting, or de-lamination - not detonation. No peer-reviewed study, ASTM test, or food-safety report documents paper straws 'exploding,' bursting under pressure, or releasing energy in a way that would justify the word.

Paper straws do have real problems, but they are not the ones Trump described. A 2023 University of Antwerp study, published in Food Additives & Contaminants, tested 39 brands and found PFAS 'forever chemicals' in 90 percent of paper-straw brands and 80 percent of bamboo brands - higher than the 75 percent rate in plastic straws and zero percent in stainless steel. Separate research from the Food Packaging Forum found inks, photoinitiators, mineral oils, and the suspected carcinogen 4,4'-methylenedianiline migrating from some printed paper straws into beverages. The honest critique of paper straws is chemical migration and structural softening, not explosion. The honest critique of plastic straws, meanwhile, is well documented: the U.S. uses an estimated 390 million per day, they take 200+ years to break down, and they fragment into microplastics that have been found in marine animals, including a whale shark in Thailand killed by a plastic straw piercing its stomach.

Common claims

  • Paper straws literally explode when used.False - they soften, collapse, or split, but do not detonate
  • Paper straws lose most of their strength when wet.Supported - 80-90% compressive-strength loss within 30 minutes
  • Paper straws are uniformly safer than plastic ones.False - 90% of paper-straw brands tested contained PFAS
  • Plastic straws are harmless to marine life.False - well-documented harm to sharks, turtles, and other species
  • Trump's 'explode' remark was a literal description of how paper straws fail.False - it is a rhetorical exaggeration not supported by materials testing

Evidence hierarchy

01Executive Order: Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper StrawsPrimary-source text of the February 10, 2025 executive order. The order itself never uses the word 'explode'; that language comes only from Trump's verbal remarks at the signing.02Trump signs order shifting US back toward plastic strawsBBC reporting captures the exact 'they break, they explode' quote and the broader context of the executive order reversing the Biden-era 2035 phase-out of federal single-use plastics.03Assessment of PFAS in plant-based drinking straws - University of AntwerpPeer-reviewed analysis of 39 straw brands found PFAS in 90% of paper-straw brands and 80% of bamboo brands, versus 0% in stainless steel.04All-natural hydrophobic strong paper straws (Journal of Cleaner Production)Engineering paper on paper-straw mechanical performance. Baseline flexural strength 13.45 MPa, compressive strength 13.30 MPa. Failure modes are softening and buckling, not explosion.05Paper straws not safer than plastic straws, scientists findFood Packaging Forum summary of migration studies: 19 chemicals migrated from paper straws into soda, including the suspected carcinogen 4,4'-methylenedianiline above EU specific-migration limits.06Trump misrepresents plastic impact on sharks - AFP Fact CheckAFP fact check rebutting Trump's claim that plastic straws don't affect marine life. Scientists at Duke, Exeter, and Shark Stewards cite documented harm including a whale shark killed by a plastic straw in Thailand.

All sources

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