Plastics

In the past year I've read quite a few articles about the dangers of plastic. It's not biodegradable; biodegradable plastic as currently made and thrown away will also never decompose anywhere near the time scale they advertise. The chemicals that are added to plastic, to make our lives better, are ending up in our bloodstream doing God knows what to us and our children.

Whew.

Here are some links to some articles about plastic.
From Discover Magazine: The Chemistry of . . . Plastics
Preserving plastics is difficult. But just because they crumble doesn't mean the pieces are gone.

About chemicals in plastic: The Dirty Truth About Plastic
This article mentions the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or gyre, which should scare anyone enough to worry about all the trash we throw away everyday. The ocean is filling up with plastic. Eventually it will breakdown to small enough pieces so that plankton will be able to eat it and once all the plankton die from filling up on plastic then what?

Think You Can Live Without Plastic? Well you probably can't.

From National Geographic: The Pollution Within

Scared yet?

So what should you do to prevent deleterious chemicals from getting into your body? Use BPA free bottles. Never heat anything in a plastic container. Maybe switch everything to glass or metal. Did you know that metal food cans are lined with plastic to increase their shelf life?

I think that the National Geographic article demonstrates it best. Even though the author found out there we traces of just about every chemical tested for in his blood, what does it mean? Most chemicals have no set limit for a safe or unsafe level.

Now I stay in lots of hotels. My coworkers often talk about how gross the hotels are. They never walk barefoot on the floor, they wipe off the remote, don't use the comforter. I like to burst their bubble. Do they ever put their face on the pillow or mattress? You think just because there is a new sheet or pillowcase the drool (or worse) that the last guest left isn't still inside? Hey, did you sit on the sofa? What about on the plane ride over? Did you let your skin touch the fabric on the seats? PBDE's are probably coursing through my blood at higher levels then the average person just because of the amount of time I spend in a plane.

Hey, even the government requires children's clothes to be flame retardant. Now I don't want my daughter going up in flames from a spark but what about the flame retardant chemicals that are now in her blood stream? Next time you are sent to the emergency room be sure to refuse an IV. Those same chemicals you worry about in your child's bottles are in the tubing.

Right now everyone is making a fuss about BPA in bottles. But that's really being short-sighted. Chemicals are everywhere. We use more and more plastic products every year. The only thing I can really suggest is to not think about it. You'll drive yourself crazy. I leave you with one last statistic that will hopefully lighten up your mood.

From the National Center for Health Statistics, United States Department of Health and Human Services. In 1910 the average life expectancy for men and women combined was 50 years. Now it's almost up to 78. Why? Thanks, in part, to plastics.