Plastics are everywhere in our day to day environment. Plastics can be used in an incredibly wide range of products from easy to open packaging to extremely durable machine parts. They are cheap to formulate and can be formed in a press for easy mass production.
The first man-made plastics were created in 1862 and put on display in an exposition of science and technology in London. At the time it was difficult to imagine that these materials could be as widespread as they are today since the means of producing enormous quantities of plastics for global distribution did not exist.
Today, plastics are in everything—they are in our refrigerators, in products we use on a moment by moment basis. It’s in clothing, bedding, and upholstery made with polyester. It’s in the pills we take for our health. Paper receipts are coated with it. The groundwater is impregnated with it, and in case you’re not aware- it contains powerful endocrine disrupters known as BPA which change the way the body produces hormones.
Plastics are made from the same material gasoline and other petroleum products are made from. They’re made from ancient organic material from long-dead plants and animals. The base material is drawn from the Earth and used in innumerable ways. But because this substance is organic in nature, it is readily accepted by our bodies as if it were a nutrient. However, like the blackened carbon layer in an overheated cooking pan, plastics are toxic.
Since 1975, when a new surge in the use of plastics began; breast cancer, prostate cancer, impaired fertility, polycystic ovarian disease, insulin resistance, and recurring miscarriages increased dramatically with prostate cancer leading the pack at an 85% increase.
The effects have been so dramatic that the public has become acutely aware of the danger. Most modernized countries have banned the use of BPA in food containers. Its use in baby bottles is banned in almost every state and in nearly every nation. Nevertheless, if you’re an adult in North America, you’ll be hard-pressed to avoid contact with the stuff without joining a hard-line Amish community.
Many people are trying to limit their exposure as much as possible. We try to buy all cotton clothing and buy products that come in BPA free containers. For many, BPA free plastics have seemed like the best solution. Sure, you pay extra for the specially formulated plastic- but you’re getting it without those dangerous endocrine disrupters, right? Not exactly.
Unfortunately, what we have been told about BPA free products is just a marketing ploy. Manufacturers have gotten hip to the fact that people are aware of the dangers of BPAs. They know we are eager to avoid it and have devised a misleading way of capitalizing on that anxiety.
They have done this using a simple manipulation of the language. They are able to use the “BPA Free” label because they are not intentionally adding BPA to their products. This is the same legal loophole that McDonalds uses to excuse the 7 to 11% fecal matter content of their burger patties.
The plastic manufacturers are making these products using the same machines that they make their non-BPA-free products on. That means these soft particles easily make their ways into their BPA free products. Also, the BPA they have removed from the BPA free products have been replaced with substances that are essentially the same, perform the same function, and pose the same dangers to our bodies- but are different enough to be labeled as non-BPA.
It’s impossible to avoid BPA altogether. But there are still ways to limit your exposure to BPA without trusting shady manufacturers.
Eat fewer canned foods. Canned foods are the biggest culprit. It’s the soft plastic lining that contains most of the BPA we ingest.
Use cardboard and glass containers. There are a few manufacturers who provide truly BPA free products- the ones that use cardboard and glass.
Do not microwave plastic containers! Plastics break down under high heat and release extra BPA into your food. Only microwave glass, ceramic, and porcelain.
A word on baby bottle nipples. Baby bottles labeled BPA free are more strictly regulated than other products. If you’re still worried, try cooling them down with cold water to limit the level of breakdown during use.
~ Health Scams Exposed
