Plastics and Kids

[Guest guest]

grist.org

02 Apr 2007

 

Hi Umbra,

 

 

What about " sippy " cups for little kids, not to mention bottles? They're all

plastic, and we all know that kids are more vulnerable to environmental toxins.

What's a mom to do?

 

 

Janet Byron

Berkeley, Calif.

 

 

Dearest Janet,

 

 

A mom is to check the research and purchase only bottles and sippy cups that

are not considered health hazards. Umbra is to help the mom do so right now in

this very column.

 

 

 

There are alternatives to bad plastics, don't fret. Some of the alternatives

are glass, others are less harmful plastics, and aluminum may even be a good

choice in some situations.

 

 

First, a review: Plastic is a lightweight, reusable material that gained

dominance in the kids' consumer-goods market due to its low cost and durability.

Today's plastics are manufactured using chemical compounds found in petroleum

and natural gas, with other chemicals added to achieve desired properties such

as flexibility, color, and solidity. Although plastics are undeniably handy and

here to stay as part of modern life, they do have environmental drawbacks.

Immediate threats to human health from plastic food containers include phthalate

softeners and the resin bisphenol A. Dioxins, which result from the manufacture

and disposal of polyvinyl plastic, have been identified as a major long-term

threat to the environment and mammal health. Children, as you say, are small and

grow rapidly, chewing everything in sight for part of their life, and are hence

at a higher risk from plastic food containers than we ginormous adults.

 

 

Both phthalates and bisphenol A are considered hormone disruptors. Bisphenol A

may be acting as an estrogen substitute within our bodies and those of our

children, causing abnormal development of various organs including the brain and

reproductive system. Bisphenol A has been in the news recently as regards baby

bottles because of a study released by Environment California that found BPA in

the five most popular polycarbonate baby bottles. (Reading that report is

probably the best way to absorb all the various impacts potentially attributed

to bisphenol A in plastics.) Then the National Institutes of Health picked the

whole thing up to examine what's happening, and that seems to be ongoing.

Phthalates I've discussed before on numerous occasions; they are also chemicals

that are added to and leach out of plastics and can then perhaps disrupt our

reproductive systems. Bad, the whole thing is bad.

 

 

 

 

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