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gruseom

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/doczone/2008/disappearingmal...

Bisphenol A (found mostly in hard colored plastics) is becoming particularly non grata (update: in Canada) these days.

Edit: according to the article it's also "the de facto lining used in food cans". Wow.

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Sounds like the probem is stuff made out of plastic. Is that a reasonable summary?

I have the impression it's some plastics but not all. A rule of thumb many people up here use is to avoid plastics with recycling number 6 (polystyrene) or 7 (polycarbonate). These are said to be the worst.

Alex, does the film contain specific recommendations to consumers? (Normally I hate using the word "consumer" to mean "citizen" but in this case it could hardly be more accurate.)

I didn't watch the last few min of the film, but here is a good list of things to avoid:

http://www.sailhome.org/Concerns/BodyBurden/Burdens/Phthalat...

Realistically it will be impossible to completely avoid the stuff until it's made illegal.

Given that the list includes water, I'd have to agree!

From what I could tell in the video, bisphenol a's a petroleum derivative that is used to harden polycarbonates. The other one, pthalates (also a petroleum derivative) is used to soften PVC. So technically, not made out of plastic, but used to make plastic.

Edit: Realized I misread your comment. Yes, the problem is with some plastic products, which use these chemicals (but not all, since the video mentioned that one hospital using safe plastic products).

Somewhat--but phthalates are also in cosmetics, carpeting, deodorants, and many other household items.

"Bisphenol A (found mostly in hard colored plastics) is becoming particularly non grata these days."

Not in the United States.

Funny, my comment originally said something about Canada and I cut it out for brevity. I'll add it back. (Actually, it's not funny at all. The industry's argument appears to be: "But if we don't poison people, how will we make all those shiny plastic bottles?" With the fallback position: "How about if we just don't poison babies? Will that do?")

Some food storage containers, water bottles, and the like are advertising "BPA-free."

You left out phthalates, which are also in plastics, but are not the same thing as BPA.

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