I recently read a very interesting article about the effects certain chemicals are having on wildlife. In the article it said:
Pollutants that turn male fish into females have an unexpected effect on starlings: they cause the guys to sing sweet songs that lady starlings find irresistible.
In a study published this week in Public Library of Science ONE, researchers from Cardiff University studied starlings feeding on earthworms at a sewage treatment plant.
The earthworms were chock full of endocrine disruptors -- chemicals that mimic estrogen, a potent female sex hormone, and have been show to affect the behavior and development of exposed organisms.
These chemicals also do similar things to humans. I don't mean that you'll get a fantastic singing voice but it can cause early onset of puberty for your kids or other problems. Now the interesting thing about this is that some of these pollutants come from the cosmetics industry. Apparently some plastic containers contain a chemical called Bisphenol A or phthalates and this leaks out of the containers and into the contents, especially when the food is heated up in the containers. I am sure many of you knew this before but this was news to me!
The Natural Resources Defense Council has a nice webpage with a more detailed explanation about what to do.
In the meantime, especially if you have babies, are pregnant or make cosmetics, here is the list according to Delicious Organics:
Safer plastics are:
#1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) - usually for soft drinks, water bottles, ketchup and salad dressing, peanut butter, pickle, jelly and jam jars
#2 high density polyethylene (HDPE) - used mostly for milk, water and juice bottles, yogurt and margarine tubs, cereal box liners, and grocery, trash and retail bags
#4 low density polyethylene (LDPE) - bread and frozen food bags and squeezable bottles
#5 polypropylene (PP) - margarine tubs
Plastics to avoid include:
#3 polyvinyl chloride (V or PVC) - 2nd most commonly used plastic in the world. Many toys are PVC too and kids put everything in their mouths so watch out for those! Opt for more wooden toys instead - they last longer in play meaning less time in a landfill and the time they are in the landfill is a whole lot less than plastic as they will disintegrate.
My concern also is that so many things we may use regularly are made of polycarbonate including juicers, food processors, dehydrators, and sometimes even blenders and coffee machines. If that product is made of glass, we always choose that instead. Sometimes you can find alternatives in stainless as well. I am checking into Juicers, Food Processors and the like and will post additional information as I learn about it.
#6 polystyrene (PS) - foam & Styrofoam
#7 other (usually polycarbonate) - many drinking cups are made of this, baby bottles, big water jugs (and we thought we were doing a good thing having that full water jug ready for drinking anytime, right?) - these leach as they age and mostly into fatty foods. I think it's probably ok for grains but better to get rid of all of these. There is a link between bisphenol-A and phthalates and early onset of puberty. Puberty and Plastics, Dec 2003, Mothering Magazine Some Tupperware products are made of this but very few. This is the plastic that looks like glass; it's very stiff and doesn't have a "plastic" look to it.
But no matter what container you use, if it is plastic, don't heat anything up in it. Use glass or ceramics in the microwave. Stay away from plastic food wrap as much as you can. However, use common sense and don't go completely overboard with it. It takes a lot of this stuff in order to have an effect, though it is nice to minimize the exposure.
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