The newspaper published scientific findings today revealing that “microwave safe” is not that.

many products with toxic levels of Bisphenol-A

Lab tests of 10 items’ containers found that all of the advertised “microwave safe” containers allegedly released toxic doses of the chemical known as BPA, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Saturday.

The newspaper said according to the tests it commissioned, the detected levels of the chemical were allegedly identical to levels previously blamed by scientists for causing neurological and developmental damage in lab animals.

I have written extensively about BPA, which is a chemical commonly found in plastic and canned goods. BPA is a chemical that acts on the endocrine system, which is instrumental in regulating metabolism, growth, development and puberty, tissue function, and also plays a part in determining mood. As a result, it does not act like another toxin might, in that more exposure leads to more harm. Instead, BPA mimics estrogen, which in abundance can cause cancers, birth defects (seen mostly in male genitals), and learning disabilities. Studies have also shown that while BPA can cause cancer, it can also prevent chemotherapy from being efficacious. It is a double edged sword.

The FDA allowed for the approval of this chemical in products, under pressure from the Bush Administration and its love of the chemical corporations; i.e. Dow, DuPont, etc. It has also been revealed that the FDA even allowed for those chemical companies to write the safety and efficacy reports, after extremely limited testing occurred. An independent panel of scientists has concluded that the FDA acted unethically and all approvals should be reversed and BPA taken off the market immediately.

The sad fact of all of this is that the products with the highest level of BPA are the same products targeted to infants and children. We have no idea what kind of impact this is going to have on our youth.

The point to all of this is that you really should move away from plastic, as much as possible. This means water bottles, storage containers, pre-packaged foods, and the like.

Here are some helpful links to updating your kitchen:

My favorite glass containers come from The Container Store
I highly recommend getting either a SIGG bottle or a Klean Kanteen for your water.
I also have been told that Brita is the only filtration system that is specially coated to prevent leaching into the water.

Scientists are discovering that BPA has had a negative impact in lab experiements. The BPA is being released in their test tubes and altering biologic reactions, therefore giving bogus data.

But they JUST found this out.

Furthermore, plastic pipette tips – a one-use product that delivers small amounts of liquid for experiments – also leached chemicals that block biological reactions. And chemicals from plastic plates used in protein experiments actually made the MAO-B enzyme more active.

(For those who don’t know, pipette tips can be thought of as your measuring spoons in the kitchen. They are used in almost every application of science because they are the measuring device for small amounts of material… we’re talking microliters.)

These effects could distort experiments enough to make a big difference in research. “I think it’s inevitable that a lot of data that’s in the public domain will be skewed in some way,” Holt says, though he hasn’t yet identified papers with erroneous data or conclusions.

Obviously, right now, we have no idea how far this extends; how much data is inaccurate.

Really…. this is NOT good. From working in a lab, I can tell you that in order to address this issue would require a massive overhaul of the science industry. One that they are not in a position to do, currently.

This is something that will need to be watched for a while to see how deep this goes.

HERE is the article

I got a late afternoon treat that put a big smile on my face.

The FDA’s science board, a group of outside experts, voted unanimously to endorse a report that found major flaws in the agency’s decision to declare BPA safe.

The science board agreed with the finding that that the FDA was wrong to base its August decision that BPA is safe only on studies funded by the chemical industry. Excluded studies suggest that BPA, which acts like the hormone estrogen, could pose harm to children at levels at least 10 times lower than what the agency allows.

It is not good when an organization like the FDA lets itself get manipulated into approving a chemical by ignoring that it is harmful and instead focusing on the corporate interest and revenue.

I am so happy that the public outcry created the need for an independent review!

HERE is an article about the decision. Although, I will warn you, it is depressing to see how little the FDA did to ensure our safety. For example:

When measuring the amount of BPA to which babies are exposed from liquid infant formula, for example, the FDA used data from more than a decade ago and sampled only 14 liquid formula cans, all from the Washington, D.C. area. It also based its exposure estimate on the average BPA level. That could allow children fed from cans with above-average BPA levels to receive far more of the chemical.

I am sure you will be hearing more about this as the week goes on.

SAFEWAY has made the deision to ban all baby bottles made with Bisphenol-A.

This really is a huge step. You see the FDA wants you to believe that Bisphenol-A is just fine. But research upon research shows that it isn’t. This is a major move where a retailer, and large corporation, has decided to take the issue into their own hands and do what is best for the consumer. I commend them for being so aggresive in their policies.

You can see the article HERE.

I have created a special Bisphenol-A category so you can easily get to all my previous posts about this chemical.

I sit here everyday scouring the internet and magazines for articles and news that I think you need to know about. I find data and I ask you to stop using products made from GMO seeds, or made with HFCS, or release BPA into your body.

But what I am beginning to understand, and I hope you do to, is that whatever effect those items may have on you and your body, can be doubled, tripled, or gosh knows how bad on our poorer populations.

I wrote yesterday about BPA being in canned goods and the threat chemical companies made to food banks. I asked a simple question, which is worse, these people being without food or the food they get being laced with a slow releasing poison?

I fear that we all sit in our homes, reading these articles about toxins and think to ourselves…”I rarely eat food out of a can, so I am not going to worry” or “Shelley told me to get a SIGG bottle, so I don’t drink out of plastic anymore”. Well, isn’t that nice that it doesn’t effect us. But are we not responsible for ensuring that change occurs so that people that don’t have the information of resources don’t get hurt? And, don’t we end up being recipients of that change, as well, because we will have less resources being sent to medical costs?

I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I am one to ponder and ask and come to a necessary conclusion. This comes up because it seems of all the water bottles out in the world, WalMart manufactured water is the most poisonous, containing chemicals at a higher level than is legal in California. You can find the article HERE.

Now, you may think you would never buy WalMart water because you prefer AquaFina. Which is fine. But what about the latino family that can’t afford anything better? Or what about the school that buys that water for a field trip for the fourth grade class because it is the most cost effective?

If our voices are heard more loudly, then shouldn’t we speak up about what is right and wrong?

I’m just wondering where to start and how to make it stop. Any input would be cool.

Because I have always preached that you should buy locally….

A few weeks ago I linked you to a company for water bottles called SIGG. While I still LOVE my bottle and encourage you to purchase a reusable bottle and stop using plastic… I felt I needed to be responsible, and not hypocritical, and share with you a more local company to us in the United States.

KLEAN KANTEEN

Looks to be a great company. So, I encourage you to purchase from them for your bottle.

Remember moving away from plastic not only reduces the amount on non-biodegradable material put into our landfills, it also is the surest way to get away from Bisphenol-A

I’m going to guess that people are starting to wisen up and not drink from water bottles as much as they have in the past. Why do I guess this? Because of THIS.

I have a feeling that the revenue these companies have seen in the past is dropping, which is why they have launched a PR campaign to show that drinking from a water bottle isn’t all that bad. I really, really cannot wait for the ads that somehow disprove that Bisphenol-A is bad for you, as shown HERE. Or that plastic filling our landfills is somehow not hurting the environment, despite the fact that it is non-biodegradable. My favorite will be how they are going to prove that spending $1.99 on a bottle of Evian is somehow better than just turning on your tap and filling a glass.