One subject I have mentioned quite a few times has to do with what we put our food into and what we drink out of. Plastic bottles are very convenient and yet some of the chemicals in these bottles are now found in our bodies. It seems they leak into the contents of these bottles. A while back we worried about a chemical called BPA. Today many of the plastic bottles are BPA free and while BPA may not be in the bottles, other chemicals are and as the bottles are exposed to heat or sit around for a long time, some of these chemicals leach into the bottle’s contents. Sometimes the contents of a plastic bottle are more acidic than other times. We are not sure at this point if some of the chemicals in plastic bottles are endocrine disruptors. What I are talking about is chemicals disrupting hormone production or the system which carries these hormones. We are told that the FDA is in charge of our food safety and they take pains to make sure plastic bottles don’t affect our health. One of the problems to me is a statement which says plastic bottles are scientifically tested and one of the things to be established is that any substances that may transfer from the plastic to the food do not pose a risk to human health. Put simply I don’t want to see anything transfer from a plastic bottle to my food do you?

Did you ever wonder about the way your food may be wrapped when you go to a fast food restaurant? We all know a lot of the food is wrapped in a sort of paper with the logos of the fast food restaurant on it. A new study conducted has found one third of fast food wrappers contain fluorinated chemicals and these chemicals are resting against the food we are going to eat. A Professor of experimental nuclear physics has stated this chemical is one which is very persistent. It has been said previous studies linked these chemicals to kidney and testicular cancers, thyroid cancer, low birth weight and immunotoxicity in children along with other diseases. Over four hundred samples of packaging materials which included sandwich wrappers, bags pastries were put into, beverage cups and other containers showed evidence of these chemicals. Some types of wrappers with these chemicals are more in use than others, such as bread wrappers and sandwich and burger wrappers. I could name the fast food restaurants which use these wrappers, but it is quite a long list.

How can we tell what a plastic is made of? If we really want to go to a lot of bother there is something called the resin identification code which describes the type of plastic resin used to make a container. Most containers should have a number on them that ranges between 1 to 7. Most plastic bottles use plastic #1 which is Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). This plastic is considered very safe, but does have issues. The issue is antimony which leaches from PET. The warmer the bottle gets the quicker it leaches. The amount of leach is said to be well below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level, but again who want anything in their water, soda or juice? We should consider something else also and that is how many times a day do we drink out of these bottles? There is nothing better than a glass bottle as far as I am concerned. If crystal is used there is lead usually in it which can leach, such as in a fancy decanter holding alcohol.

One area where dangerous chemicals abound is in cosmetics. Since it is mostly women using these items there could be a connection with sickness and the use of some of them. Performing a Google search for “dangerous chemicals in cosmetics” produced a list of cosmetic and personal care products which we should avoid if they contain the following chemicals: Parabens, coal tar dyes, PEG’s, petrolatum and mineral oil because it can be harmful if poorly refined and oxybenzone. This list is said to be only a few of the most dangerous chemicals which are used in some cosmetics and there are plenty of others. People should be very careful when they put things on their skin and shouldn’t just slap any old thing on just because it looks good. Women should realize their skin sometimes absorbs whatever they put onto it. You wouldn’t knowingly put arsenic on your skin and yet you might put some cosmetic on which is a dangerous chemical which you are not aware of. Some people believe the incredible rate of breast cancer among women is caused by their DNA which is different from a man’s. Could they be wrong and could some product which is mostly used by women be causing this problem?

CNN ran an article on July 1, 2016 about dangerous chemicals in everyday use in our home. It states an alliance has come together known as project TENDR were leaders of various disciplines have come to a consensus and made a statement that many of the chemicals found in everyday products can result in neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and attention deficit disorders. The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stated widespread exposure to toxic environmental chemicals threatens healthy human reproduction. It seems children in the womb are the most susceptible to some of these chemicals since this is when they are being developed.

I think most of us know there are a lot of different pesticides being used which are quite harmful to humans. Not only should farmers be aware of this, but also suburban homeowners who use chemicals to make their lawns look better or chemicals to make their flowers grow faster. It turns out there is a series of chemicals known as Phthalates which are used to soften plastics helps bind them together and exposure to these chemicals is now associated with lower IQ levels. These types are also used as scents. They are also found in shampoo, body sprays, hair sprays, perfumes, colognes, nail polish, medical tubing and so many other things. It is recommended we reduce our exposure to these chemicals and use unscented lotions and laundry detergents and only microwave glass containers. Cleaning supplies should also be without scents. Accordingly certain air fresheners should never be used.

It is a chemical world out there and many of these chemicals, contrary to the old saying “a better world through chemistry”, are putting us at risk and we should be aware of this.