Is this intended to scare you? Well, let’s hope so!  It would be great if you get concerned enough to actually take actions that can help protect you and your family from plastic ‘pollution’ as much as possible and perhaps allow you to live longer and healthier lives. Many of us have been complacent for far too long assuming that ‘business’ and government agencies have been looking out for our best health interests.  Unfortunately, that is just not always the case.

Who cares, what’s the big deal anyway? The big deal is that there are components in plastic containers that break down and leach into the liquid and food they contain. One of major concern is BPA or bis-Phenol A.  BPA is a building block of plastics and has long been known to be an endocrine disruptor. That means the human body ‘sees’ this man-made substance as a hormone that can be taken up by our endocrine system and used in place of one of our many human hormones that are essential for so many of our proper body functions. 

Our endocrine system includes our gonads,  hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, pancreas, adrenal, and pineal glands. These are all critical components of our endocrine system and their proper functioning is essential for good health. Imagine what could happen if a little piece of BPA is mistakenly taken up by your body to be used in place of a human produced hormone.  It certainly could ‘disrupt’ your endocrine system and cause untold havoc in your body.

Bisphenol A is found in hundreds of household products, including plastic bottles, as well as, baby bottles and food containers.  It is also present in the linings of canned goods such as sodas,  soup, baby formula and canned fruits and vegetables.

According to a recent The Washington Post article a growing body of scientific studies has linked BPA to breast cancer, testicular cancer, diabetes, hyperactivity, obesity, low sperm count, miscarriage and other reproductive problems in laboratory animals. More recent studies using human data have linked BPA to heart disease and diabetes. And it has been found to interfere with the effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

Furthermore, researchers have found that BPA leaches from containers into food and beverages, even at cold temperatures. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health published recently found that subjects who drank liquids from plastic bottles containing BPA had a 69 percent increase in the BPA in their urine.

Things you can do to minimize your exposure to BPA from your food and water:

1.  DON’T buy or use plastic water bottles!  Remember – The longer they’re stored and the higher their temperatures get the more BPA will leach into the liquid.
2. Buy a non-plastic bottle instead of using plastic and REUSE it (on average every American uses about 150 disposable water bottles a year)
3. Refill your non-plastic water bottle from home  (tap water is better regulated than bottled water anyway)
4. Use a filter like Shaklee’s BestWater® pitcher to filter your tap water
5. DO NOT store foods in plastic
6. DO NOT microwave anything in plastic. Microwaving will drive BPA from the plastic container or plastic wrap into your food.
7. DO buy foods in glass instead of plastic whenever possible.  Most Canned foods and sodas are lined with plastic containing BPA.
8. Purchase only BPA free toys and other consumer products

Plastics are not only detrimental to your health but to our environment also. Eight out of ten plastic water bottles end up in landfills and take centuries to breakdown.  So anything you can do to minimize using plastic bottles will not only help your health but will help the health of our planet also.  For more everyday solutions to health challenges you may not even be aware of check out more information at  Environmental Working Group.

Good Health IS Your Greatest Wealth!

This is especially true in choosing the foods we eat which are greatly impacted by the farming methods used to produce them.   Is it worth buying organically grown foods instead of conventionally grown ones? Foods produced from conventional farming methods usually contain numerous chemical residues from the many pesticides and herbicides such farming utilizes.  Organically grown foods should be free of pesticides and herbicides in order to be ‘certified organic’.   It is certainly up to you to decide but a couple things to keep in mind regarding our food products and pesticide exposure in children.

• Shoppers Guide To Pesticides indicates that 96% of some fruits and 82% of some vegetables contain pesticide residue

• According to a report in Environmental Health Perspectives , blood samples of children aged 2 to 4, concentrations of pesticide residues are six times higher in children eating conventionally farmed fruits and vegetables compared with those eating organic foods.

Additional information regarding children and  health can be found at the US EPA website America’s Children and The Environment.

Still not convinced that organic may be the way to go for you and your family in order to minimize pesticide exposure from the foods you eat?  Then at the very least be sure to thoroughly clean your fruits and vegetables with a non-toxic, biodegradable cleaner prior to eating. This can help to remove at least some of the pesticide residue present on nearly all conventionally produced fruits and vegetables.   Be aware and be proactive in helping to protect yourself  and your family from the many environmental pollutants we face each day.  It can certainly make a difference in your health and longevity.

Your Health IS Your Greatest Wealth!