One Word: Plastics
Submitted by Boys and Schools Blog
As frequent readers know, I can occasionally be a bit of a pain about certain scientific studies–especially the correlate-the-everyday-substance/behavior-with-the-horrifying-result studies. (Of course, I prefer to use the word “skeptic” to describe this tendency. And my husband has his own set of highly descriptive words for it when employed in family arguments.) And I’m not a health panicker at heart. I mean, I was staying in Europe during the first Mad Cow Disease scare, and I still went to a local English pub for a hamburger. (In my defense, I really, really, really wanted a hamburger. Also, in retrospect, I’m pretty sure that the gristle–er, beef– that went into that burger had been in a freezer since long before the Mad Cow scare. Or the Truman administration for that matter.) My point here being that my leap onto the anti-pthalates bandwagon is a bit of a departure from my ordinary mode of doing things.
If you’re new to the pthalate controversy, I should clarify that I’m talking about a chemical used in the production of plastic (especially clear plastics) that has been linked to endocrine dispruptions and reproductive problems in children (especially in boys). There have been various measures to ban pthalates in hospital plastics, and it has been banned from toys in Europe. Now there are indications that Congress will act to ban pthalates in children’s products–and it’s quite a load off of my mind.
To give you an idea of how ubiquitous these chemicals are, consider that they are present in most forms of flexible plastic , and seem to pass into our systems pretty easily. Apparently, one FDA study found traces of pthalates in every single one of its 1000 subjects. It can be found in children’s toys and even baby bottles. (There are some specialty bottles that advertise themselves as safe, and the Playtex Drop-Ins nursing system is also free of these chemicals. Alas, Playtex did not offer to pay me for that mention–I found out while trying to find some BPA-free bottles for my daughter. Though if any Playtex executives out there feel moved to donate for this shout-out, I certainly won’t stop them.)
To be fair, those who oppose the ban cite studies that claim no firm link between pthalates and harm to children. Though I wouldn’t exactly expect them to say anything else. I’m definitely not moved by their argument that banning pthalates would put children in even greater danger because they (the pthalates, not the children) could be replaced with even more dangerous chemicals. Hmmmm. Really? That strikes me as more than a little dim on the part of the plastic manufacturer. What is the logic there? “We’re in trouble for adding a potentially dangerous chemical to children’s toys. Let’s show them what dangerous really means.” If they get in trouble for those chemicals, what’s next? Individually punching each customer in the mouth? (Note: this is not a general criticism of plastics companies–I realize that there are many things they manufacture that make our lives easier, save puppies and babies, etc. I’m just saying that the spokesperson who made this particular claim wasn’t helping his case.)
Alright, I’m rambling here. And I haven’t even had the opportunity to say, “But please, somebody, think of the children.” So let me sum up: I’m not a panicker, but I am glad that Congress is finally acting on this. If you agree (or even if you don’t), this is a good time to call or write your Congressman and let him/her know how you feel on this issue.
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Recently, numerous publications have been writing about the dangers of BPA and phthalates and many companies are jumping on board promoting baby bottles and other plastics as BPA free.
Moms everywhere are ditching their baby bottles, binkies and sippy cups for newly marketed BPA-free ones. However, BPA and phthalates are just two of several hundred chemicals that exhibit estrogenic activity (EA) in plastics. Estrogenic activity occurs when chemicals are ingested that mimic or block the actions of naturally occurring estrogens, the female sex hormone. Studies have proven the fetus, newborn and young child is particularly vulnerable. Health-related problems as a result of estrogenic activity include: early puberty in females, reduced sperm counts in males, altered functions of reproductive organs, obesity, altered behaviors and increased rates of some breast, ovarian, testicular and prostate cancers.
Chemicals having EA leach from almost all plastics sold today. That is, plastics advertised as BPA-free or phthalate-free are not EA-free. Almost all these plastics still leach chemicals that contain EA. In fact, our data at PlastiPure show that all the plastics commercially available today do release chemicals with easily detectable EA. The FDA has yet to examine this broader problem. The amount that leaches from any one item may be small, but the cumulative effect of leaching from many items is significant and can be detected in the blood and tissues of almost all of us. And our children are the most susceptible.
Unfortunately, current legislation is attempting to solve this problem by removing chemicals having EA like BPA and phthalates just one at a time. This approach is ineffective since thousands of chemicals still used in plastics exhibit EA, not just BPA and phthalates.
The appropriate health-driven solution is to manufacture safer plastics that are completely EA-free. This is not a pie-in-the-sky solution, as the technology already exists to produce EA-free plastics that also have the same advantageous physical properties, as do almost all existing plastics on the market today. In fact, some of these advanced-technology EA-free plastics are already in the marketplace. The cost of safer, EA-free plastics is just pennies more than EA-releasing plastics when both are used to manufacture the same product in similar quantities