Study Says Plastic May Endanger Our Health After All
For years, many people have had some serious common sense health concerns and questions about ingesting chemicals from plastics. I know that the prevailing wisdom has been that there really is no danger. Most studies seem to show the potent chemicals in plastic do not leach out of food containers, plastic bags, or beverage bottles in amounts that pose any health risk at all. Even the popular urban legends web site Snopes says that concerns about reusing plastic water bottles or putting plastic containers or plastic wrap in the microwave, are misguided concerns. But like the claim that chemicals in soap that cause sex changes and other problems in fish don’t affect humans, this Pollyannaish view that we have nothing to fear from plastics has always troubled me. The problem has been that all the so-called “major” studies on this issue have not substantiated any health concerns.
Now, as of yesterday, comes a new study that says we may indeed have something to worry about. Plastics contain a virtual arsenal of chemicals that might be cause for alarm if they were ever shown to leach or transfer out and into the food stored in plastic containers. The statement issued yesterday by the scientists conducting the latest study targets only one of these chemicals, but it is indeed a doozy! The chemical, bisphenol-A or BPA, is one of the most widely used chemicals in the world. It is used in too many products to even begin to list here, but the focus of this latest study was on canned food, beverage containers, plastic baby bottles and “microwavable” plastic containers. Bisphennol-A is used to line the interior of food cans. A recent Environmental Working Group study found BPA in 60% of the canned foods they tested. BPA, like many chemicals in use today, is an estrogen mimicking chemical and is thought to contribute to both reproductive problems and reproductive system diseases in both men and women.
One of the most frequent platitudes offered by the chemical industry to assure us that we are safe is that any specific chemical found in our food supply is there in such low amounts that it poses no significant health risk. I respond with two questions. How are these chemical manufacturers defining “significant health risk? And…. what about the health risk from ingesting hundreds of different chemicals at this “low” dosage? One, two or even ten may not cause a detectable health problem in most people, but most of us ingest a super-sized cocktail of chemicals every day, from a multitude of different sources. Common sense tells me that this long term exposure to so many different chemicals is not a desirable thing for people trying to live a healthy lifestyle.
Another assurance offered by the industry is that even though there is no provable health risk associated with their chemicals, pregnant women, babies, and children should err on the side of caution. In the research done by the Environmental Working Group, BPA was found in 30% of the baby food and 80% of the infant formula tested. Additionally, another page on the E.W.G. site lists BPA as being at unsafe levels in 30% of the formula tested. I wondered if Abbott, makers of the new Similac Organic Baby Formula were aware of this study? I was thinking, what good does an organic baby formula serve if the cans it is sold in contaminate the formula with BPA? After contacting Abbott, I was called by one of their representatives who assured me that Abbott does test their formula for the presence of BPA and has never found the chemical in any of their products. The cans that Similac is sold in are not plastic resin lined steel cans, but made of a material that does not contain BPA. This is interesting since Abbot’s Similac and Mead Johnson’s Enfamil comprise most of the formula market and the E.W.G. study found BPA in 80% of the tested formula. I will try to find tha actual brands of formula tested.
I am sure the counter attacks by the food and chemical manufactures have already begun. Their only real defense is to try to discredit the study and its authors. Perhaps anticipating this counter attack, this particular study has scores of scientists signed on to it.
My personal concern is not how manufacturers will respond to this latest study as that response is very predictable. I just will add BPA to the list of things I do my best to avoid. I do this by making informed decisions about diet, lifestyle, and product purchases. To help in that regard, here is a list of “consumer tips“, put out by the E.W.G., on how to reduce exposure to BPA.
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Will,
Plastic has been a huge concern of mine for years so it was great to see this post.
It does not seem like the public is paying attention and continue to let their kids drink from plastic, eat food that has been stored in plastic and then microwaved.
I rarely hear anything about the dangers of plastic. Is there an organization trying to get the word out?
leslie
Comment by leslie edwards — January 5, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
Welcome Leslie and thanks for your comment. There are so many different types of health and environmental risks to our addiction to plastic everything that it is hard to point to one site. Greenpeace and others talk a lot about the environmental dangers of plastic. Here is a link to some articles on the Organic Consumers site about plastics.
What will get the word out is all of us doing as you did with your blog… writing something to alert our own group of friends and readers.
-Will
Comment by Will — January 6, 2008 @ 5:12 pm