http://www.thebodytoxic.com/A ubiquitous material that permeates the lives of everyone born since the early 20th Century, may be deforming, sickening, and killing us. That material would be: plastics...the wonder substance that changed the world (and finance, according to the movie "The Graduate"). The material that touches us from the day we are born to the day we die, every day of our lives, might be our biggest health threat.
More specifically, compounds such as "Bisphenol A" (BPA). Wiki: "Bisphenol A was first reported by A.P. Dianin in 1891. It is prepared by the condensation of acetone (hence the suffix A in the name) with two equivalents of phenol. The reaction is catalyzed by an acid, such as hydrochloric acid (HCl) or a sulfonated polystyrene resin."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A
Ian Punnett, host of the "Coast To Coast AM" late night radio show, interviewed the author of the new book "The Body Toxic", detailing data on what is one of the most important but possibly most detrimental materials in our modern world. The C2C website posted in the synopsis that, "...world experts have written a consensus statement regarding the adverse affects of Bisphenol A, a compound found in baby and sports bottles. According to [Nena Baker's] research, exposure to Bisphenol A and similar chemicals may have led to an increase in breast and prostate cancers, urogenital abnormalities in male babies, a decline of semen quality in men, and early puberty in young girls." She reports that until plastics saturated our lives, previous generations did not come into contact with the types of health threats that we do today as their environment consisted of non-synthetic materials closer to their natural forms.
Additional sources of harmful polymer-type chemicals are found to be Teflon, microwavable plastic containers, plastic wrap, and the inner coating of microwave-popcorn bags. These types of toxins are released via heat that causes outgassing of the materials into the foods we cook in them, and are also scraped off during food preparation. Word is slowly getting out about the risks here, and manufacturers are beginning to look for alternatives. Will changes come soon enough to save lives? Baker suggests that one of the first adjustments we can perform to avoid these toxins, is to use as much glass and ceramic as possible, instead of plastics, when cooking and storing foods.
6 comments:
Hmmm. I'm beginning to think daily living is harmful to the health. 8~(
Yet another reason to try and declare our independence from Oil. Aren't most plastics oil based? I believe that's true.
Sooo.... maybe it's best to go back to glass, ceramics, and cast iron cooking pans?
Yes, I guess most plastics come from petroleum sources, and I think that there might be other types too in the synthetic forms. Plastics is one thing that I didn't get much exposure to in my semiconductor lab, so I don't know too much about them at all.
Yeah, ugh, back to scrubbing heavy pots and pans again. Don't use aluminum pots either, it might cause Alzheimers. :-(
Hmmm... wonder about anodized aluminum? We don't have cable TV at our house, but when I was in Ohio I did spend some time in front of my folks TV soaking up some cable programming. Can't remember exactly which show it was, but it basically investigated science/technology/manufacturing etc.
They had a episode about oil, and how it's broken down into different products. Absolutely fascinating.
Good question about anodization. It is supposed to keep it from corroding, right? But would it keep it from releasing any metal into food prep? What about scraping it with metal utensils? This warrants more research! Meanwhile, stick with stainless steel, I guess. :-)
Here's a little more "in depth" information. Anodizing is basically creating corrosion on the surface of aluminum by design. This coating is super hard and wear resistant. Unlike iron oxide (rust) it will not exfoliate off the surface.
Hence it "will not transfer to food or easily flake off under stress. This makes it especially popular for food-service applications and industrial applications where durability is crucial."
Note: Aluminum oxide (often used s the abrasive in "sandpaper") is extremely hard, almost as hard as diamond. So I don't think utensils scratching it would be an issue..... the utensils would take a beating, not the pan!
You are correct. Stainless is a recommended "safe" material for cooking utensils. Ditto ceramic, enameled, and glass.
Interesting! :-)
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