Plastics are an integral part of our lives. Know the good and the bad.

Last July, The FDA banned the use of BPA in children’s bottles and sippy cups. BPA is still found in the plastic lining of canned foods, where it is a high risk of leaching into foods, especially those that are acidic or canned in liquid.

PET OR PETE plastic which has a recycling code of #1 is commonly used to make beverage containers and is generally considered safer than #3 and #7. It does have a potential to leach chemicals. Studies have found that reusing single-use PET bottles, such as standard plastic water bottles, can cause the plastic to break down and allow bacteria to build up in threads of the cap.

PS, more commonly known Styrofoam, is labeled as #6. Its health impacts are not as severe as in #3 or #7, but do include eye, nose and throat irritation. Also, PS is a major contributor to marine pollution. It takes 50 years to break down. It has also been shown to cause cancer in production workers.

Recent studies reported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, conclude that many types of plastic can leach chemicals that have estrogenic activity. Chemicals with estrogenic activities have similar effects to BPA, which include, obesity, damage to the reproductive system and increased cancer risk, especially for fetal and juvenile mammals. Researchers have found that almost every commercially available plastic product they sampled, including those marked “BPA Free” leached chemicals having detectable estrogenic activity.

This in not to scare you but help you be aware that there are many factors that affect our health. We can minimize our exposure to many of these hazards by making changes in our everyday life. Looking to the government to find a quick fix to our health issues is not a solution. Knowing the cause of illnesses and being aware of our environment can help us make choices that help us heal our whole body rather than address just the symptoms. Taking responsibility for our own health is empowering.

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