The Saga of the Plastic Bottle
An analysis published by the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel this weekend revealed that plastic products labeled “microwave safe“ release “toxic doses” of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). The paper also reported that all of the products it tested—10 in total—leached dangerous BPA levels, according to the paper’s online version, JSOnline.
JSOnline also reports that federal and state lawmakers are looking to ban BPA from food and beverage containers and noted that Representative Edward J. Markey (Democrat-Massachusetts) said he plans on reintroducing a bill in Congress this January to do just that. “This test of ‘microwave safe’ containers adds to the already vast and compelling body of knowledge indicating that BPA is dangerous and unsuitable for all food and beverage containers,” Markey was quoted as saying in JSOnline.
The paper’s analysis included measuring what BPA amounts were released upon heating and calculating “how much BPA children of various ages and weights would consume if they were to eat from the products,” said JSOnline. The paper found those “studies in which scientists had looked at these levels of BPA exposure in live laboratory animals,” finding 17 such studies that confirmed “harm at these levels,” reported JSOnline. The harm sited included “genital defects, behavioral changes, and abnormal development of mammary glands,” said JSOnline, which noted that mammary gland changes matched those found “in women at higher risk for breast cancer.”
To read the rest of this article, click here.
To learn more about the “How-to’s” of recycling, check out NextStep Recycling.
Photo: How can I recycle this/flickr
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Related causes: Environment
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