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Health Care Industry

Plastics: The Sixth Basic Food Group — Part 1

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Jan, 2001 by Rose Marie Williams

Readers who saw the 1970's film The Graduate, starring a young Dustin Hoffman undecided about a career path, may recall the scene at his graduation party where an older family friend places an arm around young "Ben" and utters, "In one word - plastics. The future, my boy, is plastics." Three decades later, the future is here and plastics are everywhere. We are now just beginning to understand the many ways plastic chemicals can interfere with health.

Phthalates

Phthalates are synthetic chemicals commonly found in inks, adhesives, vinyl floor coverings, some paints, and most plastic, including food wrap. Phthalates are plasticizers used to make plastic products more flexible. Their effects on human health is increasingly coming into question.

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The offspring of female rats exposed to phthalates demonstrated a variety of abnormalities. "Most striking were their effects as androgen (male hormone) blockers in male offspring, which included a reduction of testosterone levels and abnormalities in the male reproductive tract." [1]

A higher risk of miscarriage was observed among women exposed to high levels of phthalates. [2]

Bisphenol-A

Researchers at the University of Missouri have been studying the effects of hormone disrupting chemicals that leach out of plastic products. Bisphenol-A, an ingredient in the lining of metal food cans, polycarbonate water jugs, and dental sealants applied to children's teeth, was found to alter the development of male reproductive organs in mouse studies using amounts comparable to what humans currently ingest. [3]

Dental Sealants

Coating children's teeth with bisphenol-A to prevent dental caries is being done by ever increasing numbers of dentists around the country. Meanwhile, researchers in Spain have found this substance to be an estrogen mimic which could cause cancer.

Closer to home, researchers at Tufts School of Medicine found saliva from bisphenol-A treated patients to be estrogenic. Ignoring the research data, the American Dental Association continues to defend the practice. [4]

Of Mice and Men

Male mice whose mothers were exposed to bisphenol-A in doses as low as two parts per billion showed changes that would result in permanently enlarged prostate glands. When doses were increased to 20 parts per billion, a permanent 20% decrease in daily sperm production was observed. [5] The unanswered questions is - what role has exposure to plastic chemicals played in human prostate problems, fertility problems, birth defects and cancer?

Sugar, Cream and Styrene

Styrofoam cups and meat trays do more than keep your coffee hot and your meat neatly packaged. Nearly as pervasive as the coffee break itself, white "plastic" or "foam" styrene cups outgas toxic chemicals into the coffee. As endocrine disrupters they are increasingly suspected of contributing to breast cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid and other glandular problems. [8]

One study of fat biopsies from human subjects conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found styrene residues in 100% of the samples tested. Fat in humans and other mammals serves as a storage site for many toxic chemicals which bioaccumulate over time, leaching out many years later causing damage to cancer protecting genes. [7] If more money were put into this area of cancer study instead of additional ways to use chemotherapy and radiation, we might make some headway in understanding cancer causation and prevention.

Meat and cheese on styrene trays wrapped in clear plastic easily absorb lipid-loving chemicals from the packaging materials. Chemicals from styrene trays and some brands of plastic wrap easily migrate into foods with a high fat content. Removing foods from these packaging materials immediately after purchasing is recommended.

As for the office coffee break ritual, substituting styrofoam cups with washable ceramic mugs is both environmentally friendly and a good pro-health choice.

Placticizers in Plastic Wrap Migrate

Plasticizers in some plastic wraps have been shown to migrate into fatty foods such as meat and cheese. Of seven brands tested by Consumer Reports, Reynolds Wrap and Saran Wrap contained some of the five plasticizers being tested. Studies indicate some plasticizers migrate into food at the point of contact, even during refrigeration. [8]

Some cheese wrapped in plastic was found to contain as high as 50 to 160 parts per million of the adipate plasticizer, DEHA. Waxed cheese with clear plastic overwrap was found to have 1 to 4 parts per million of the common phthalate, DEHP. [9]

Consumers may wish to rewrap store bought cheese with waxed paper, or buy cheese cut to order at a deli and ask to have it wrapped in waxed paper.

Microwaveable Plastics

Concerned consumers may wish to avoid using plastic containers and plastic wrap in the microwave. Manufacturers advertise the plastic containers as "microwave safe," but this in no way guarantees the food is safe when heated in plastic. Dr. Carlos Sonnenschien of the Tufts University School of Medicine has been studying the problem of chemical migration from plastics for over two decades and strongly recommends substituting glass or ceramic ware for microwave use.

Health Care Industry

Plastics: The Sixth Basic Food Group — Part 1

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Jan, 2001 by Rose Marie Williams

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