I’ve been scared since I first found that Bisphenol-A (BPA) can cause all sorts of problems from feminizing fish, cancer, to undescended testes in boys but a new Mother Jones exposé has me shaking in my boots.
I was pregnant when the public started finding out about the effects of (BPA) and while I was scared, I felt as if I had options. I could look for plastics with BPA-free on the packaging and switch to glass, which I did. I now only heat up and store food in glass.
According to the Mother Jones article, however, that may not be enough and the results of their investigation suggest that there may be no such thing as “safe plastic”.
It reported that “almost all” commercially available plastics that were tested leached synthetic estrogens—even when they weren’t exposed to conditions known to unlock potentially harmful chemicals, such as the heat of a microwave, the steam of a dishwasher, or the sun’s ultraviolet rays. According to Bittner’s research, some BPA-free products actually released synthetic estrogens that were more potent than BPA. More here….
What’s even more concerning is that the plastic industry knows that their product may not be safe and have fought to keep the information away from the public. The article likens what the plastic industry is doing to the tobacco industry cover ups. That’s scary! We all use plastics and what’s worse is that our vulnerable children walk around with sippy cups, pacifiers, and “lovies” that may be leaching dangerous toxins.
Honestly, right now it seems like an uphill battle to keep plastics out of our lives. It would mean no frozen veggies, canned tomatoes, body lotions, or even a refrigerator! It’s alarming so I can only hope that as more information comes out we will find out how to safely use all plastic products.
Check out the article for more information on the investigation and let me know how you minimize the use of plastics in your life.
There’s a new book that you must add to your kiddo’s bookshelf. It’s called “Justice Pon Di Road” and it tells the story of little Justice’s visit to Jamaica.
Black Mothering 