Three Wise Men

Are you sure you know what you eat and drink? Think for a while! Plastics is really everywhere – in cosmetic packaging, drinking bottles, food containers, children toys, credit cards, clothing, … It seems as we can not live without it anymore.

Plastics is organic material made synthetically or semi-synthetically. It is a polymer comprised from molecules of high molecular weight. It’s hard, soft, colored, clear and it can even smell nice (perfumed). Different chemicals enable such features and/or reduce the cost of production. Some of these chemicals are very dangerous. Therefore every plastic piece should be labeled¹.  Are you interested in learning how to distinguish between different plastics? Read on.

Plastics logo is represented by triangle of three arrows and a number or acronym in the middle. Numbers and acronyms will tell you what type of plastic the product was made of. Numbers 2 (HDPE), 4 (LDPE) and 5 (PP) pose no harm to your health. Plastics with numbers 1 (PETE, PET), 3 (PVC, V), 6 (PS) and 7 (other, O) contain chemicals, which present a danger to your health, especially to young children and fetuses, that are yet developing. Exceptionally hazardous is bis-phenol-A (BPA), that belongs to the group 7. Chemicals will diffuse from the plastic to the liquids or food when warmed or heated. Even using plastic material in a microwave or a dishwasher signifies a danger of diffusing chemicals into food chain. Chemical substances mimic reproductive hormone estrogen and cause  reproductive developmental issues, as well as obesity, prostate cancer, breast cancer and attention-deficit disorder, to name a few²,³.

There is not enough research done to firmly support such negative influences of chemical substances. Most of them were done on animals, although first reports from human blood and urine samples support animal studies. These are long-term studies and take some time to link all the factors that influence our health. Two months ago BPA was found in a glass jarred baby food⁴. Perhaps the environment is already contaminated with chemicals.

There is another drawback that needs to be considered. Plastic is hardly degradable and poses a great risk for the environment and animals. Just think how many animals die because they suffocate from plastic bags or eat small plastic pieces. Fortunately, there is an alternative in the production – biodegradable bags and containers⁵. This is a very promising solution, but so far it is too expensive and a long-term storage of food and liquids in such biodegradable containers is not a very good choice as leakage compromises their convenience.

Many countries and manufacturers are already aware of the danger that plastic represents⁶. BPA is banned in most of them, but not other chemicals. Although we hardly influence government choices, we still have a choice of what to buy and we can always try to recycle instead simply throwing away.

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• BPA, chemical used to make plastics, found to leach from polycarbonate drinking bottles into humans (scienceblog.com)
• Bioplastics Industry Getting a Second Wind (scienceblog.com)
• BPA-Spiked Urine: New Study Points to Polycarbonate Bottles (treehugger.com)