Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Which Plastics to Never Use with Food | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

Melissa Breyer

Which Plastics to Never Use with Food

posted by Melissa Breyer Dec 28, 2010 5:01 pm
  • <
  • 1 of 5
  • >


Although the apron-wearing, martini-bearing, housewife-in-heels with her rainbow of Tupperware may be a thing of the past, the quest for a well-organized kitchen persists. To see tidy stacks of food-filled plastic containers in the fridge and freezer is comforting in a primal kind of way. But then comes the procession of warnings about storing and cooking food in plastic, and leaching chemicals, and hormone disruption, and ACK! So here it is: The lowdown on plastic food containers.

Flip over your favorite plastic food storage container and check the recycling code number. If you spy a number 3 or 7, well, those containers should probably go to the craft room or garage to store buttons or screws rather than food. If there is no number listed, contact the manufacturer. (And to be fair to Tupperware, they do manufacture products that are not made of these plastic types.)

Number 3 is polyvinyl chloride (PVC), also known as vinyl. PVC has garnered the moniker “the toxic plastic” for the presence of DEHA–one of several plasticizers (softeners) used in its production. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, long-term DEHA exposure has the potential to cause: Reduced body weight and bone mass; damage to liver and testes; and cancer. The manufacture and incineration of PVC also releases carcinogenic dioxins into the environment and food chain. Although PVC is not the most common plastic used for food storage containers, some are made from it and it is often used in plastic wrap to improve performance.

Recycling code number 7 includes several plastic types (it’s the catchall “other” category–see tips below) but it is predominantly polycarbonate. The problem with polycarbonate is that it harbors bisphenol A (BPA). Studies have shown that BPA damages the reproductive systems of lab animals by interfering with the effects of reproductive hormones and has other serious health effects. BPA’s capacity to cause these stems from its ability to mimic the human hormone estrogen–it has been linked to prostate and mammary gland cancers, early onset of puberty and reproductive-organ defects.

Next: 12 tips for safer plastic use

  • <
  • 1 of 5
  • >
More on Children (491 articles available)
More from Melissa Breyer (597 articles available)

101 comments

add your comment »
1) { html +='view all 101 comments »'; }else{ html += 'view fewer comments »'; } document.getElementById('Care2CommentPageLinkContainer').innerHTML = html; } function display_abuse_form(element) { document.getElementById("report-link-"+element).style.display='none'; document.getElementById("report-"+element).style.display='block'; } function cancel_abuse_form(element) { document.getElementById("report-link-"+element).style.display='block'; document.getElementById("report-"+element).style.display='none'; } function display_response_to_abuse_form(commentID, success) { $('report-buttons-'+commentID).style.display = ""; $('report-submitting-'+commentID).style.display = "none"; if(success) document.getElementById('report-'+commentID).style.display='none'; var d = (success) ? "success" : "failed"; document.getElementById('report-response-'+d+'-'+commentID).style.display=''; setTimeout(function(){blinkText.start($('report-response-'+d+'-'+commentID), false);}, 5000); } function report_abuse(itemID, commentID, msg) { $('report-sbmtbtn-'+commentID).blur(); $('report-buttons-'+commentID).style.display = "none"; $('report-submitting-'+commentID).style.display = ""; blinkText.start($('report-submitting-'+commentID), true); var sPath = '/greenliving/which-plastics-to-never-use-with-food.html'; var charForQueryString = (sPath.indexOf("?") != -1) ? "&" : "?"; var dataSource = new Care2.ajax.SimpleDataSource({ servletPath: sPath, servlet: charForQueryString+'itemID='+itemID+'&Care2ReportCommentAJAX=1&commentID='+commentID+'&abuse_msg='+escape(msg), handleSuccess: function(data) { if(data.abuse_report) { display_response_to_abuse_form(commentID, true); } else { display_response_to_abuse_form(commentID, false); } }, handleFailure: function(data) { display_response_to_abuse_form(commentID, false); } }); dataSource.startRequest(''); } var blinkText = { start: function(elmnt,bleenk,speed) { var _self = this; this.o = 100; this.u = 'down'; this.a = speed||4; this.d = elmnt; this.b = bleenk; this.changeOpacity(elmnt,this.o); this.intvl = setInterval(function() { if(_self.d.style.display == "none") clearInterval(_self.intvl); if(_self.u == "down"){ _self.o -= _self.a; if(_self.o 100) { _self.o = 100-_self.a; _self.u = "down"; } } _self.changeOpacity(_self.d,_self.o); }, 50); }, changeOpacity: function(d,o) { d.style.opacity = o/100; d.style.MozOpacity = o/100; d.style.KhtmlOpacity = o/100; d.style.filter = "alpha(opacity=" + o + ")"; } }
101 comments add your comment
Rose N.
  • Rose N. says
  • Dec 29, 2010 5:35 PM

Thank you for posting.

send green star

Gloria H.

Ditto the tom's ad. If I get points for listening that's one thing, but apparently it just plays..maybe that's what the ad says about having made some bad choices in the past? Playing over and over again is a bad present choice.
I was able to get some stainless steel lunch boxes at yard sales..I think they are made in Japan for Japanese school kids. some nest together..bulky but not plastic. Maybe they are still being made? Stainless steel uses power to create, but looks alot better than melted, torn plastic stuff. Do what ya gotta do.

send green star

Edgar Zuim

All plastic is harmful by releasing toxins under conditions of high or low temperatures. To preserve food, the safest way is still the glass.

send green star

Rosemary P.

I freeze home-made soup in glass salmon jars - very good for one helping with perhaps some vegetable stock or ginger water added before serving, but I believe the lids have BPA.

To use a plastic product for maybe minutes, and chuck it into the landfill where it keeps going, and going for 1,000 years strikes me as little short of criminal. As a culture, we have too much power and too little awareness - dangerous combination!

send green star

Past Member

Love the new(old) glass refrigerator storage containers. I will occasionally use "good" plastic bags for small amounts of treats that I carry with me. Looking for a tote-able substitute....canvas or cotton cloth, I guess I'll have to make some.

send green star

Amilia L.

1000 years? I learn something everyday. I have avoided plastics as much as possible. We use glass and ceramic.Now that I know about the 1000 years. I think i'm gonna boycott it.

send green star

Fiona N.

Thanks for the info. I try to use glass or ceramic when possible, but sometimes the sizes I have don't fit and I end up going with a plastic container. I'm going to have a look at the number on the bottom though - hopefully they're ok!

send green star

Robert Shaffer

Thanks for the info.

send green star

Charlene R.

This whole plastic business is becoming quite distressing.

send green star

john o.
  • john o. says
  • Dec 29, 2010 1:16 PM

Industry has long known to strictly avoid the "Four Deadly Ladies: Poly, Moly, Ethyl; and Ester" Since the chemical industry now has greatly reduced safety regulations, these substances have become widely used, despite the dangers they present.
Poly is a real looker (no wrinkles) but her sister Ester is a real stinker (esters: reacting to acids [as are found in perspiration] produce odor)...So polyester looks good but it stinks when you wear it.
Where are those safety rules -forgotten except being used against us?

send green star

9.5367431640625E-7 [render:contentloaded] => 0.0059728622436523 [render:tokensbuilt] => 0.0060129165649414 [render:end] => 0.0060188770294189 ) -->
Please enter your comment.
Login to leave a comment
Or, log in with your
Facebook account:

who's talking about this story?

Disclaimer: Care2.com does not warrant and shall have no liability for information provided in this newsletter or on Care2.com. Each individual person, fabric, or material may react differently to a particular suggested use. It is recommended that before you begin to use any formula, you read the directions carefully and test it first. Should you have any health care-related questions or concerns, please call or see your physician or other health care provider.

1051015

via care2.com

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)