BPA: Bad For You. Plastic: Bad For The Planet
Written by Erin Patterson - Thursday, 09 April 2009
|
297
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
 You have probably gotten wind lately that a chemical, BPA, can leach or migrate from polycarbonate plastic into foods and beverages. Just what is BPA? Where does it come from?
How do we avoid it? Is it bad for the planet? What’s the earth-friendly alternative? This piece gives you the dirt on all of that.
What is BPA? So, you’ve heard that you shouldn’t be using plastic water bottles anymore. Well, how come? Many plastic water bottles contain BPA. BPA, or by its given name: Bisphenol-A, is a chemical that is one of the starting materials for polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is a very strong, clear, heat-resistant, and remarkably impact-resistant, nearly unbreakable plastic material.
BPA is a synthetic sex hormone that mimics estrogen in the body. And, it’s now getting official national scrutiny, in the US and Canada, because of the physiological changes that occur in people when they ingest BPA that has leached from plastics into their food. The Canadian government is even considering declaring BPA toxic.
Where is BPA found? Because of its properties, BPA is found in many polycarbonate plastics, like baby bottles, canned infant formula, food-storage containers, certain clear plastic pitchers for filtered water, refillable/reusable water bottles like those water bottles sold in outdoor and athletic stores, water pipes, dental sealants, and the lining of soft-drink and food cans. (Plastic water and soda bottles manufactured for one-time use are not made with polycarbonate plastic.)
Is BPA bad for our health? BPA causes physiological changes in the body after it is ingested because BPA leaches from plastics into food. BPA appears to mimic the effects of estrogen. This interferes with hormone levels and cell signaling systems. Studies have shown that exposure to high levels of BPA puts people at a greater risk for breast cancer, uterine fibroids, decreased sperm counts, and prostate cancer. BPA exposure poses the most significant risk to babies and children. BPA can have negative effects on the prostate gland, mammary gland, and even cause the early onset of puberty in children and babies. BPA is also an endocrine disruptor. Endocrine disruptors alter the function of the endocrine system by mimicking the body's natural hormones. In animal studies, BPA has been shown to affect reproduction and brain development.
BPA exposure is most significant and prevalent in polycarbonate drinking bottles exposed to boiling or very hot water. BPA is released from polycarbonate plastic 55 times more rapidly after exposure to hot water. Repeatedly scrubbing, dish-washing, microwaving, boiling polycarbonate baby bottles, and storing hot liquids in polycarbonate bottles all substantially increase the release and migration of BPA. I should point out that BPA exposure and migration has nothing to do with whether or not the bottle is new or old. It is the heating that increases exposure, not the age of the polycarbonate bottle or the number of times it has been used.
What makes BPA bad for the Earth? For starters, polycarbonate bottles are made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. Not all plastic containers can be recycled and they are more expensive to produce than glass. Polycarbonate containers have a recycling symbol (resin code) of 7. They can be recycled; however recycling for “number 7s” is not available in all areas. Please check with your local recycling facilities to see where your polycarbonate bottles can be recycled.
How do I avoid using BPA and what are the eco-friendly alternatives? To avoid and prevent exposure to BPA:
- Avoid heating foods and liquids in plastic containers that contain BPA.
- Avoid cleaning polycarbonate plastics with very hot water.
- Altogether avoid using plastic containers that contain BPA.
- Choose glass or metal bottles and food containers over plastic containers and wash them by hand, avoiding very hot or boiling water. (At least verify that they can safely withstand dish-washing in the machine.) Metal and glass bottles are more durable and, therefore, have a much longer life than plastic bottles. Their longer life prevents them from having to be recycled sooner. Plastic bottles, like water and soda bottles manufactured for one-time use, are not affected by BPA migration. (However, purchasing and consuming beverages from those bottles is far less eco-friendly than reusing drinking glasses or metal water bottles because significant energy is burned in the manufacturing and the recycling process.)
So, there you have it: what BPA is, how it gets from plastic into our food and beverages, why it is bad for us, what we can do to prevent encountering it and, of course, some green alternatives to plastic and polycarbonate food and beverage containers!
|
More articles by Erin Patterson
|
|
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed