Plastics

FACT
Chemicals released by plastics are probably contributing to effects in humans and animals, like low sperm counts, more cancers, and earlier puberty.

FIX
There is no easy fix to this problem. But you can decrease how much of these chemicals you are directly exposed to. Where possible, use glass or metal for storing food instead of plastic. When you need to use plastic, stick with #2, #4, and #5 plastics (more on that below). Never heat up any plastic in a microwave, ever - some of the problem chemicals will leak into your food. And consider a regular method of detoxification, be it fasting, exercise, sauna, energy treatment, or others.

BACKGROUND

There are many changes that scientists have been noticing in human and environmental health in the past few decades, including more breast cancer and testicular cancer, earlier onset of puberty for girls, and lowered sperm counts. Biologists have seen the same thing happen in the wild in animal populations. In one of the most famous examples, alligator penises in Florida were observed to be shrinking in size compared with their historical lengths. Bald eagles in the Great Lakes region, along with other birds high up on the food chain, have become hermaphrodites (meaning having both male and female genitalia) after the consumption of contaminated fish.

It appears that something is changing sexual development and rates of sex-related cancers. One of the theories about this is that chemicals released by industry that act like the female sex hormone estrogen (xeno-estrogens) may be the cause. Such chemicals are found in pesticides and herbicides, or from bleaching paper, or in plastics.

Plastics are made by refining oil, which in Chinese medicine is yin (feminine) in nature. We know that plastics leak some of the chemical parts that are used to put them together. Some plastics leak more than others.

You can tell which plastic is which by looking at the triangle with the number in the middle of it that is often printed on the bottom of plastic products. Each number refers to a different kind of plastic that is made in a different way, from different chemicals, and that has different properties. And each type of plastic, labeled from 1 to 7, leaks different amounts and kinds of chemicals, with different effects.

Plastics 2, 4, and 5 seem to be the safest. Plastic #3, vinyl, is probably the least safe to human health. Stop using Saran Wrap or any wrap made of PVC (plastic #3). If you must use a food wrap, you can switch to Handi-Wrap or Glad Cling Wrap, both of which are polyethylene (#2 plastic), which don’t appear to leach. And certainly, never, ever microwave any food wrap!

Recently, polycarbonate, or plastic #7 (the type used to make most hard water bottles such as Nalgenes) has been shown to leak bisphenol-A (or BPA), which has effects on lab animals similar to that which we see in human and wild animal populations.

No matter what the plastic is, heating it or scratching it makes it leak more chemicals, which is why microwaving any plastic or foam is really not a good idea.

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Water - Bottled or Not?

FACT
We all need water.  But bottled water is expensive, wasteful, and not necessarily any better than municipal water.

FIX

Chinese Medicine teaches us to drink water according to thirst – if your thirst, desire for drinking, and hydration needs don't seem to match, you have a mild to moderate water metabolism problem, and would benefit from seeking advice. Invest in a water filter. Ceramic, reverse-osmosis and others can create excellent water quality. You can refill a glass or metal water bottle any number of times per day from fountains or filtered water sources.  Coupled with a strong water metabolism, your hydration needs should be met.

 

CONSIDER

  • Why import water from other parts of the world when we have readily available water piped directly into our homes?
  • If domestic water is not to your liking, why not have society invest the time and energy to improve it?
  • Bottled water is subject to fewer health and safety standards than municipal tap water.
  • That having been said, there is not likely any actual health risk on an individual level from drinking bottled water.  But it is equally likely that, despite perception, bottled water is certainly no healthier for you than tap water.
  • This lack of health risk may not be true if we consider the bigger picture, where fossil fuels are burned to make the plastic bottles and transport them to distant markets, while the bottles themselves (which constitute 1.5 million tons of waste annually) take about 1000 years to biodegrade in landfills, which, ironically, may mean that harmful chemicals could be leaching back into our groundwater from which the bottles and taps are filled.
  • On an individual level, if you don’t like tap water, why not invest in a water filtration system?  Pre-filtration, one bottle of Evian costs the equivalent of about 4000 litres of tap water.  Even with the cost of the filtering, it still works out to pennies versus dollars, litre per litre.
  • Bottled water costs two to three times more by volume than gasoline!
  • The two best-selling brands of bottled water are Aquafina (bottled by Pepsi) and Dasani (bottled by Coke).  But both are actually just filtered tap water put into bottles!!
  • Much of the appeal of bottled water is based on clever marketing and framing, rather than on actual taste, value, or health benefit.
  • That having been said, it is certainly better to chug water than pop. Good job everyone!
  • Hydration problems may not only be related to water. They may be primarily related to the fatty or oily substances in your body that keep us moist. Think skin and what happens when we soak it in water for too long.

REFERENCES

USDA bottled water article (neutral info about the industry and its regulation):
www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2002/402_h2o.html

Organic Consumers Association article (critical article with lots of details about the issue; somewhat alarmist, but lots of background info and provocative questions):
www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/water121003.cfm

Frontline Water Article (shorter summary of some of the main points of the debate, framed by this PBS subsidiary):
www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/waterbottle.html

Short article on bottled water vs. tap water (with a convenient table for comparison):
www.communitywater.com/core/content_tapvsbottled.htm

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