Thursday, May 21, 2009

Are Plastic Containers Killing Us?


One of my bosses read some crazy diet book. I can't remember what it's called, but it talks about all sorts of things we use that are killing us, plastic being one of them. Apparently a chemical, abbreviated to BPA, is used to solidify #7 plastics. And just my luck, our office water jugs are #7 plastics. So I've sort of been scurrying around, calling people, looking information up on google, so we can see about alternative bottles. So far, no luck. I've tried recommending a brita filter, but she will only drink spring water-- never tap or filtered.

If you don't know about BPA, supposedly it causes serious health problems including cancer, cardiovascular damage, diabetes, and other diseases. [[See this article for more info]] We already know that we shouldn't microwave tupperware containers or wash them in the dish washer, because heat releases chemicals, but what about these elusive #7 platics? It has me baffled.

Anyone know anything about these chemical releasing plastics? Or is it just the plastic combined with heat that releases chemicals?

1 comment:

chris said...

hmm, i thought it was all plastics that did that. i read that you're not supposed to freeze water in plastic bottle also. good luck!