Reducing Your Exposure to Plastics - iVillage Your Total Health

Reduce Your Exposure to Plastics

bpa Experts disagree about whether chemicals found in countless consumer plastics pose a health risk. Some consumers are waiting for them to sort it out. Others are taking steps now to avoid these products when possible.

There's no proof that typical low-level human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates is dangerous, but if you choose to limit your exposure, here are some tips:

Check the recycling codes on the bottom of containers. Avoid unmarked plastic containers and those with a recycling code of 3, 6 or 7. Instead, Consumer Reports suggests choosing plastics with recycling numbers of 1, 2 or 5.
Read ingredients panels. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires cosmetics and grooming products to list phthalates on their ingredients labels, with the exception of fragrances and products used exclusively by professionals, such as in salons. Products containing these items may list one or more of the following ingredients:
- Dibutylphthalate (DBP)
- Dimethylphthalate (DMP)
- Diethylphthalate (DEP)

Be careful in the kitchen. Don't microwave plastic containers that aren't listed as microwavable, and throw them out if they're damaged. Some consumer groups advise against heating plastic containers or putting them in the dishwasher, especially polycarbonates (hard, clear plastic—most with a recycling code of 7). Consider eating fewer canned goods and plastic-packaged products.
Consider alternative products. Some parents are switching to baby bottles made of glass or BPA- and phthalate-free plastic, as well as toddlers' sippy cups made of alternative plastics or stainless steel. Sporting goods stores are reporting an increased interest in water bottles made of metal or alternative plastics. For brown-bagged office lunches, glass or ceramic dishes can replace those handier plastic containers.
Shop around. The nationwide outdoors outfitter REI has already cleared its shelves of bottles containing BPA, and other businesses are following suit. Walmart, the world's largest retailer, Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us have stopped selling polycarbonate baby bottles. Nalgene, a leading maker of sports bottles, says BPA is safe but has stopped using it because of customers' concerns.
Take folic acid when you are pregnant. Doctors already recommend this B vitamin for pregnant women, and recent research on animals suggests that folate may protect fetuses from the potentially negative effects of BPA.
Speak up. Pressed by activists, California and the European Union have banned several phthalates in children's products. The states of Minnesota and Connecticut, the city of Chicago and Suffolk County in New York have banned the sale of certain children's products containing BPA. Similar measures have been proposed in Congress and dozens of other state and local governments. Canada's government has proposed banning polycarbonate baby bottles and otherwise restricting BPA. Some consumer groups are urging people to demand that legislators take further action. Or, if you think these products are safe and shouldn't be banished, you can also raise your voice about that.

Some experts oppose banning BPA and phthalates, especially for products that don't come into contact with food, drink or the mouth. "There would be no exposure expected from helmets, goggles, other protective gear, compact discs or electronics. If there is no exposure, there is no health risk," Michael Babich, a chemist with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, told a Congressional hearing on BPA in June 2008.

BPA is found in many useful items such as protective sports gear, Babich noted. A ban "could result in less effective protection of children from head, eye or bodily injury," he testified.

Until more research is in and experts can come to a consensus on this issue, consumers are left to decide for themselves whether these common plastics pose a health risk. If you haven't already, find out about safety issues in common plastics.