Avoidable Exposures - Plastics

Avoidable Exposures - Plastics (for breast cancer survivors)

Plastics

Plastics are ever present in our lives. Phthalates, the compounds that give plastics
their flexibility, are involved in virtally every step of the food preparation, delivery,
and storage chain. Commercial food is commonly processed using plastic
equipment. Plus, it is packed and distributed in plastic-lined boxes and cans, most of
which contain the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), an alleged endocrine disruptor and
carcinogen. At home, many people deposit and then reheat leftovers in plastic
containers that can transfer small particles of plastic into the food. The salt, fat, and
acid found in many foods make matters worse by facilitating the transfer.

Phthalates are also contained in air fresheners, carpeting, cars, cleaners,
computers, flea collars, floors, furniture, insect repellants, medical devices, nail
polish, paints, perfume, PVC water pipes, rainwear, shampoo, shoes, shower
curtains, shrink-wrap, teething rings, toys, varnishes, and many other consumer
products (Berkson 2000). They are even used in pharmaceuticals to help enable
timed-release dosing.

The association between phthalates and breast cancer has been hotly debated for
over two decades. Plastic industry lobbyists (SPI 2009) claim that people’s exposure
to single-product compounds is well below toxic-exposure limits and causes no
problems. Health experts and environmentalists (Takahashi and Oishi 2000) counter,
however, that although exposure to one type of plastic may be below toxic
thresholds, none of us is exposed to only one type of plastic. Europeans are taking
no chances. Phthalates have been prohibited in cosmetics in Europe for decades (EU
Council Directive 1976). The European Union widened its ban on phthalates in 2005
(EU Council Directive), issuing a directive against this highly suspect compound in
children’s toys and all oral child-care products.

BPA: The New Bad Kid on the Block

BPA is a xenoestrogen; that is, it is thought to mimic the effects of estrogen in
the body. You’ll find it mainly in polycarbonate plastic bottles and the linings of
food and beverage cans. It also finds its way into rivers, house dust, and just about
anywhere official tests have been run. Like phthalates, it winds up in the food with
which it comes into contact, particularly when that food is prepared at high
temperatures.

In a 2007 survey, the EWG examined common sources of BPA in foods and the
degree of exposure in people, and reported that:

• Over half of ninety-seven cans tested contained BPA. Chicken soup, canned

ravioli, and infant formula had the highest levels of BPA of all products
tested. Of four hundred people tested, BPA was detected in over 95 percent of
them.

• For one in ten cans of all food tested and one in three cans of infant formula,

enough BPA was found in a single serving to expose a person to more than
two hundred times the government’s designated safe level of BPA exposure
for industrial chemicals.

The FDA does not offer oversight of BPA levels found in food, despite the fact
that more than one hundred peer-reviewed studies have found BPA to be noxious
even at low doses.

POSSIBLE CONNECTION TO BREAST CANCER

BPA is apparently connected to breast cancer, although the risk seems to be more
conclusive in infants whose mothers had high exposure during pregnancy. One
group of animal researchers found that fetal exposure to low doses of bisphenol A
“resulted in long-lasting effects in the mouse mammary gland that were manifested
during adult life” (Murray et al. 2007).

The authors of Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility,
Intelligence, and Survival?, a book that examines environmental impacts on health,
believe, as do other experts, that exposure of human fetuses to BPA also results in
prominent changes in later breast development (Colborn, Dumanoski, and Peterson
Myers 1996).

GUIDELINES FOR AVOIDING BPA EXPOSURE

Are there precautions you can take at your stage of life? Of course. Clearly, if
you are of childbearing age, it’s critical to avoid contact with BPAs as much as
possible. For the rest of us, lowering our body’s burden of this toxic compound can
only add to our well-being.

We consulted the EWG and the NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences) for their recommendations, which we include among ours:

• Minimize consumption of canned foods. EWG tests have found that BPA

transmits from the liner of the can into the food inside the can.

• Avoid eating or drinking from polycarbonate plastics, used in products such

as plastic baby bottles, sippy cups, and water bottles; food storage
containers; and plastic eating utensils. It’s easy to check for the type of
plastic on the bottom of bottles; polycarbonate bottles, for example, are
usually labeled with the number 7. Look for bottles and other containers
made from glass, stainless steel, or nonclear plastic (which does not contain
BPA). Note that certain metal water bottles are lined with a plastic coating
that contains BPA. Look for stainless-steel bottles that are not lined with
plastic (EWG 2007).

• Do not microwave food in polycarbonate plastic containers (NIEHS 2010).
• Do not drink from plastic bottles that have been sitting in a hot vehicle or

that you suspect have been stored in a hot environment or previously frozen.

• Avoid handling credit card receipts, as they are coated with a thin layer of

BPA (EWG 2010).

Happy Practice :)