How bad is plastic?

[moonlight]

I like to listen to The Jullian Michaels podcast occasionally. I'll preface this by saying I know Jullian Michaels is not really a expert in anything except fitness training and I know some of you don't even care for her on that subject. lol!

She was talking about how bad plastic is for us and for our foods. She said we should never allow our foods to be stored in plastic because plastic chemicals leach into the food. We should absolutely never heat food on or in plastic. According to her, over many years the cumulative effect can be very harmful to our health. Basically everything from plastic storage containers to meats in plastic wrap at the store are big no-nos in her book. Her recommendation is to use glass for storage and have the butcher cut our meats and put it in paper. What do you know about this subject?

[HouseofWool]

Everything I have read/heard is about the same. I try not to use plastic, particularly to reheat something in the microwave. For me though, it comes down to living a more intentional lifestyle, shopping the edges of the grocery store, eating fewer processed foods, overall, trying to NOT eat like the 21st century.

[SoonerTexan]

Pretty much what Kris said. I have primarily glass storage containers and avoid heating in plastic.

[Chrisada]

I do try and avoid plastic. We have all glass containers and I'm about to get R reusable snack and sandwich bags for school. I just don't personally like the thought of his food sitting in plastic five days a week. All though now that I think about it, the super healthy Ezekiel bread I buy for his lunches is sitting in plastic bags. Oy.

[HouseofWool]

Plastic has become ubiquitous and it is nearly impossible to avoid it all. I just try to limit what I can, while still maintaining my sanity. So, for me, I still use ziplocks for snacks because I really don't have the energy for reusable bags right now. But I do use plastic reusable containers for sandwiches for lunches. I don't trust the kiddos with glass containers for that.

90+% of our left overs are stored in pyrex.

[moonlight]

I do try and avoid plastic. We have all glass containers and I'm about to get R reusable snack and sandwich bags for school. I just don't personally like the thought of his food sitting in plastic five days a week. All though now that I think about it, the super healthy Ezekiel bread I buy for his lunches is sitting in plastic bags. Oy.

This was my thinking. I walked into my kitchen and 90% of our food in sitting in some form of plastic. We have a deep freezer. How do you go about freezing meats and breads?

[scrub-jay]

Honestly, there is hard research surrounding BPA and a few other polycarbonate plastics, but regulations are slow to change. In addition to food materials, many of these "harmful" (and I put that in quotes because some have supporting research and others are speculative) plastics are also used in your plumbing, water treatment processes (and most bottled water is filtered tap water), and industrial food prep. Plastics labeled 3, 6 or 7 may contain BPA and heating does increase possible leaching. The severity of harmful effects are hotly debated in the scientific and non-scientific communities. We do our best to limit our exposure, but there are risks everywhere - every person has to balance their comfort level and focus on their hot-button items. For some that is plastics, others it is cleaning products, fluoridated water, pesticide usage, non-organic foods, genetic modification of foods, mercury in vaccines, radiation exposure, sodium intake... see what I'm getting at here? For us, we limit, but we don't obsess on this issue because it isn't on the top of our hot-button items. Just my 2 cents. I'm guessing that this is at the top of Jillian Michaels' list.

[ladymoreta]

I'm reading this eating my leftover spaghetti from a Tupperware container that I just microwaved. I have been heating the kids' food in glass more often, but I just feel like I have worry overload sometimes, and I can't get myself too excited over this one.

[ladymoreta]

That said... My former Tupperware consultant/manager recently decided to stop heating her food in plastic because of her research on the subject, so I keep meaning to look into it.

[moonlight]

Honestly, there is hard research surrounding BPA and a few other polycarbonate plastics, but regulations are slow to change. In addition to food materials, many of these "harmful" (and I put that in quotes because some have supporting research and others are speculative) plastics are also used in your plumbing, water treatment processes (and most bottled water is filtered tap water), and industrial food prep. Plastics labeled 3, 6 or 7 may contain BPA and heating does increase possible leaching. The severity of harmful effects are hotly debated in the scientific and non-scientific communities. We do our best to limit our exposure, but there are risks everywhere - every person has to balance their comfort level and focus on their hot-button items. For some that is plastics, others it is cleaning products, fluoridated water, pesticide usage, non-organic foods, genetic modification of foods, mercury in vaccines, radiation exposure, sodium intake... see what I'm getting at here? For us, we limit, but we don't obsess on this issue because it isn't on the top of our hot-button items. Just my 2 cents. I'm guessing that this is at the top of Jillian Michaels' list.

I think a year before DD was born or maybe when she was a year old (the brain does get fuzzy) I listened to this report on NPR about how harmful toxins are to girls especially regarding likelihood of cancer. Maybe you (or anyone on here) can give me some more info on this. I wish I knew more of the details from what I heard.

The gist of it was that little girls ages birth to 2-3 yrs old are very sensitive to chemicals and toxins. There is a number of years when girls are stronger against these toxins from about age 3 until they nurse a baby. Not just have a baby, but nursing is required according to this one study. The point was to protect your girls as best as possible until about age 3, then starting around age 17 extra protections should go back into place as far as household toxins, chemicals, cleaning products, etc etc. I can't seem to get that story out of my brain since I've had DD. It's been something I've tried to work on. I'm not sure how storing food in plastic might relate to the report I heard on NPR. Any thoughts?

[scrub-jay]

My only thoughts are - if it is important to you, do your homework on legitimate sites. I like to start with actual peer-reviewed articles, maybe poke around google scholar (those are free) and see what is actually out there. The research has swung both ways on the plastics issue, it is becoming more solidly against BPA. My issue with NPR is that they may look at one research article and turn it into an hour-long "scare the pants off of you" documentary. I discovered that my family and I live in an area of the country with one of the highest natural levels of radon (due to our proximity to the mountains and certain kinds of minerals). However, interestingly enough, although radon has been shown to increase cancer... the cancer levels in this state (which should be higher, naturally) are far lower that states with lower levels of radon (standardized data for other contributing factors). I think LM summarized it well - you can easily go into worry-overload, so choose your issues and do your best.

My understanding of youth exposure to "toxins" (a very poorly defined and overused IMO term) is variable. There has been research that illustrates ill effects of very specific chemicals on the developing bodies of both boys and girls (different chemicals impact genders differently - some can be estrogen analogs for example), but extrapolating into a generalized, but not defined "toxin" is pushing it in my book. You can't call something a "toxin" until you show it is "toxic"... example: Studies that looked at radioiodine exposure in children following the Chernobyl incident and the increased prevalence in thyroid cancers. Would I call that toxic? Yes, and that is why there was a global shortage of iodine following the Japanese disaster (because taking iodine supplements can sit in thyroid and prevent the radioiodine from taking up residence).

My only warning here is to be very skeptical of questionable research that serves to scare you more than to educate you. I would probably start with your DH or your Pediatrician. Have them point you to (or explain) what research is out there and what direction the scientific community is leaning. I honestly give this same advice on any health issue. I haven't done the leg work on this issue, so I can't give you a solid opinion.

[GrayMatterWife]

This sounds like a First World Problem. Instead of worrying about obtaining clean drinking water, we worry about whether the container our purified water is stored in has a remote chance of someday causing cancer.

I didn't know who Jillian Michael is until I googled her, and it appears (although I could be wrong--I'm not expert) that she has had some plastic work of her own done. If her breasts are augmented, I guess she doesn't have an issue with ALL synthetic products!

Unrelated to the "is plastic bad?" controversy, I really prefer glass baby bottles. I feel like I can get them cleaner.

[Vanquisher]

I use plastic. Whatever. It's just not on my radar. I can't seem to care.

[mommax3]

I didn't know who Jillian Michael is until I googled her, and it appears (although I could be wrong--I'm not expert) that she has had some plastic work of her own done. If her breasts are augmented, I guess she doesn't have an issue with ALL synthetic products!

.

GMW, that made me laugh! I use plastic and always have. Like Heidi, this issue is not really on my radar.

[Chrisada]

This sounds like a First World Problem. Instead of worrying about obtaining clean drinking water, we worry about whether the container our purified water is stored in has a remote chance of someday causing cancer.

This made me laugh since virtually everything discussed on iMSN is a 1st World Problem, from which house we're going to buy, to which six figure job our spouses will take, usually wandering into the upper middle class problem arena specifically.

I have a lot of cancer in my family, so I do try and be aware of what's going into by body, which I understand is difficult in our society.