Category : BPA alternatives
I watched a documentary back in January regarding the link to BPA and obesity. The film was called Programmed To Be Fat? and was aired on The Nature of Things with David Suzuki. Click here to view the documentary and my apologies for readers in the US that might not have access. For you, I’m going to summarize the important parts of the film, but before I do, there is something you all need to know about BPA-free products and how manufacturers might be able to get away with labeling a product as BPA-free, when in actual fact, not lessening the adverse chemical effect within the product. Let’s take the most common example of a BPA-free product: toddler sippy cups or food containers. We have been lured into a safe cocoon by seeing the words BPA-free stamped on the packaging. Well what if manufactures are using a sister chemical to make the product called BPS? It is true and here is the quote from Professor Fred Vom Saal from the University of Missouri as quoted from the documentary. If you are still purchasing products marketed as BPA-free thinking they are safe for your family, this is a must read:
“Because people want BPA-free products, they are using BPS as a replacement for BPA. And the problem is BPA and BPS are both estrogen mimicking chemicals and there is no reason to think that BPS is going to be a lot safer than BPA.”
Understanding this fact might be as important as realizing that packaging stamped with “phthalate-free” while still being made with PVC (the most dangerous & toxic plastic available) gives consumers a false sense of security. And really, as consumers are WE OKAY WITH THIS? Really, to have people making products geared to babies and children, I ask again “ARE WE OKAY WITH THIS?” No we are not. What is the easiest way to avoid being duped by the huge companies profiting off poisoning our families? Avoid plastic all together. In my mind, especially in the form of food, liquid storage and food packaging. My thanks to Groovy Green Livin who shared the Huffington Post article this morning regarding BPA and alternatives – it reminded me of what I learned from the documentary. Lots of good information in the Huffington Post article, but nothing talking about using BPS in products to dupe consumers.
Now that you harnessed with the information on why to ditch plastic permanently, here is a bit of information on the documentary called Programmed To Be Fat? It was a very informative look into chemical exposure and another terrific documentary on CBC!
Experts believe that it’s not just our modern day lifestyles that are making us fat, but modern day chemicals. Why? Obesity rates have almost doubled in the last 30 years and is happening not only in the US, but in all countries with a western lifestyle. Also since 1950 on, newborn babies have been born heavier. When scientists starting examining the effects of BPA and reproductive science, they kept seeing a side effect in their lab animals and test – Fat. The main problem is during development (as fetus) and the newly found obesogens. This is a term coined by Bruce Blumberg in 2005, after getting the results of a ground-breaking study of pregnant lab mice fed a marine pesticide (and more importantly a endocrine-disrupting chemical) called tributyltin. He discovered that it was also turning reproductive cells into fat cells.
The link between obesity and diabetes is well known. What’s new is the possible link to chemicals. Programmed To Be Fat tells us that 20 years ago there was approx. 30 million people worldwide with diabetes … now there are 250 million (!!). Being fat can cause cancer. We know all of this and despite our best efforts to change this in society it is still happening. Why is that? Bruce Blumberg and other scientists will tell you they suspect endocrine disrupting chemicals and BPA is one of these.
The most important precaution they suggest in the film is to reduce chemical exposure and focus on nutrition if you are pregnant. What we’re doing is programming people so that they will develop obesity later on in life that will be passed on to future generations. The focus needs to be precaution since we’ve allowed these chemicals into the marketplace without proper testing.
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Category filled with articles re: BPA Plastics
Happy New Year! I wanted to start the New Year with going back to basics on forms of chemical exposure. I’m starting with BPA because after so many years it still receives so much media attention. Did you know that researching BPA was one of my reasons for starting Mommy Footprint 4 years ago? I had four children under the age of five and our world revolved around sippy cups, lunch containers and cooking utensils. The hype back at this time was water & baby bottles and discovering they contained BPA. Some countries like Canada banned the use of BPA in baby products, but have done little to ban it from other sources, aluminum cans for example. If you want to think about BPA in the most simple of ways and then brain dump the info (my favorite thing to do) so that you can move your focus onto the next class of chemicals to reduce from your life, do two things:
Do not purchase or use plastic to drink or eat from. It’s very simple…there so many great options on the market now: stainless steel and glass are the best in my opinion because they are dishwasher safe and besides from small amounts of nickel that leach from stainless steel, they are stable materials to reuse. With kids think stainless steel because if dropped on the floor it bounces rather than glass that will of course break. Everywhere I go, I still see toddlers drinking from plastic sippy cups. The argument from parents would be that these cups were marketed as BPA-free. I don’t trust it because I’ve read reports that products have been tested that are sold as BPA-free and still contained BPA! You are also never supposed to dishwash plastic because the high temperatures will break down the plastic composite and busy parents love the convenience of dishwashing. At the bottom of this article, I will link to my articles about using melamine dishware, Tupperware products and why I don’t use them. I also don’t use food grade silicone in my kitchen – the research isn’t there for me yet that this material is stable enough to handle freezing and hot temperatures. And yes, I’m making this longer than it needs to be….if you want to avoid BPA – don’t drink or eat from plastic. (Tips on doing this are listed at the bottom of the article)
The 2nd way to avoid BPA – don’t drink or eat from cans. Could it really be this simple? Well it’s really not if you think about all the different purposes we use cans such as pop, tomato sauce, beans, convenience alphagettis, canned soup, aluminum water bottles, etc. Aluminum is toxic to humans so all cans need to be lined with a material to separate the liquid or food from touching the can – this is where BPA enters our food system. All cans are lined with an epoxy liner that contains BPA which is why levels of BPA are high in teenagers. Think about all the coke, convenience food they eat. So before you cook or drink out of that can ask yourself two questions: ” can I make this from scratch rather than using a can?” (tomato sauce, soup, etc.) and “is there an alternative to how this food or drink is packaged?” (tomato sauce packaged in glass bottles, beer in glass, etc.) Science has recently suggested that BPA is linked to diabetes. What if our love for canned beer and coke have helped increase rates of diabetes? So not just the sugary liquid is hurting our health by the way it’s packaged!!
Why do we need to avoid BPA? Even low dose exposure has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, and because of the estrogen-like properties of BPA it’s also linked to breast & prostate cancer, early puberty, behavior problems, and reproduction issues. Exposure to BPA doesn’t seem to just effect you while in the moment, unfortunately it’s a chemical that is found in our fetuses so the real cause for concern is how it effect babies with such small systems to process and flush a chemical such as BPA. So for many people if you have older children this might need be the chemical at the top of the list to focus on for 2012 and how to reduce it. A chemical to be aware of for sure – but when stacked up to lead exposure, flame retardants, and PFC (non-stick)..there are definitely more toxic chemicals that exist with human health. With flame retardants being referred to as the asbestos of our generation…I feel like the education for the general public needs to advance away from BPA. Yes it’s a toxic chemical that effects human health but adults flush this chemical quite quickly from our systems. And this is why I write this article to start 2012. I see BPA mis-quoted all the time in social media when trying to avoid chemical exposure. In writing this article, if you are eliminating the two steps listed above with plastic contact to food/water and canned food you are eliminating much of your contamination from BPA. With the chemical being produced in the billions of tons each year, it’s already in our water system so exposure cannot be totally eliminated. But here at Mommy Footprint we like to control our own destiny, so this is my recommendation for those concerns with this chemical. Ditching water system jugs that are coded a 7, not reading newspapers and switching to receiving your news online (BPA is in newspaper print) and not taking printed receipts (receipt paper contains BPA) will also help you, but there are not as easy to eliminate as step 1 and 2 outlined above.
Here are more article and all of the articles I’ve written over the years on BPA can be found in this category: BPA Plastics
Below are some great reads to get your caught up on food and liquid preparation without BPA. Want to get caught up in the world of BPA exposure – these articles should do it!
BPA in Dental Sealant? http://mommyfootprint.com/holistic-dentistry-mercury/
BPA Alternative with Ice Cube Trays: http://mommyfootprint.com/mommy-footprint-chemical-free-ice-cubes/
Finding Food in Glass Jars: http://mommyfootprint.com/finding-food-in-glass-jars/
Plastic & Melamine: http://mommyfootprint.com/pssst-plastic-melamine-can-we-talk/
Tupperware & BPA: http://mommyfootprint.com/tupperware-bpa-2-years-later/
Alternatives To Freezing Food in Plastic: http://mommyfootprint.com/alternatives-to-freezing-food-in-plastic/
It was very exciting to receive news this week that I’d be able to interview Dr. Ara Elmajian – an amazing resource for holistic dentistry practices. I had recorded the questions I’ve received from Mommy Footprint readers since July so I hope I’ve done justice to all of you wanting information on fluoride and mercury fillings. Let me start with my own thoughts on holistic dentistry. I’ve thought for awhile now that traditional dentistry would be the next area of major concern with chemical exposure. When I ask friends that are very green what they do to limit their chemical exposure with dentistry and they pause and answer “I’ve never thought of that before”, I get nervous. And my cause for concern is real because we as a society don’t think to ask what is being put into our mouth with dentistry. Or maybe they do think to ask, but it promoted by a health concern and the prevention stage for healthier dentistry is no longer relevant. After talking to Dr. Elmajian, I’m 100% convinced that there are many cover-ups with mainstream dentistry and I thank him for being totally frank in this interview. But since he’s had these beliefs for over 30 years, this new-age revelation of mine and so many other parents is old news. I thank him for his patience while I asked questions I’m sure he’s answered many times. Here are snippets of our conversation.
Dr. Elmajian started off by stating the US is considering banning mercury in dental work at the government’s level. Although he agreed with my thoughts that phasing out would be a slow process. Dr. Elmajian pointed out that dentists being trained today are still taught how to use mercury fillings in universities across North America. So the question of “is mercury/amalgam fillings still being used in dentistry today” is void. Yes. Dentists are using it, being taught how to use it, and it will be up to you to ask questions about what is going into your mouth. Many old fashioned dentists will continue, no matter what is legislated so it’s up to you. For me, I’ll start treating dentist visits like being a consumer, purchasing a product. Ask questions and keep asking until you find out and understand what they are putting in your mouth.
“So what is the best alternative to fill a cavity or filling?” I asked. Dr. Elmajian answered that ideally it’s best to have compatibility testing done. Immune systems can be sensitive to many different materials. Lots of people have allergies to gold, white filling do contain a resin, etc., so compatibility testing can ensure your body is happy with the material being used with dentistry. Also, new ceramic materials are gaining in popularity. This testing is approx. $300 and you have blood drawn to decide what is the best material for your mouth. When I asked about people having major health problems, chronic infections, these can be caused when mercury and other metals combined leading to mercury vapors leaching into your mouth, that process is called oral galvanism. Dr. Elmajian mentioned the video called Smoking Tooth because it describes how with every time you chew, mercury vapors are escaping that could lead to cardiovascular, immune, arthritis problems and many health issues related to heavy metal toxicity.
One look at Dr. Elmajian’s website, www.draraelmajian.ca and you’ll be happy with the amount of information you’ll discover about detoxing the body of mercury, he is passionate about this subject. He advises that mercury fillings are always leaching. Always you might ask? He will say always. When you chew, drink water, and the 2nd video on his website you will see the vapors that escape from mercury when eating. He said that a filling can be in your mouth for 100 years and mercury vapors will still leach. So you can understand at this point why I stopped asking any questions related to “is mercury a dangerous material for dentistry?” The answer every time will be yes. And the process to remove the mercury is also dangerous so it’s important to do your research and go to a facility that uses proper suction system and procedures. Dr. Elmajian’s website can give you more information on what is involved with a mercury filling removal – it is a treatment process, not just involving the removal. There is diagnostic work, the removal, and follow up detox processes. At this point in our conversation I asked “do you wait for an illness to occur before thinking about removing mercury?” Dr. Elmajian laughed because this is not a question he can answer. Neither can I. Only you can. Dr.Elmajian believes in individualized care because each person has their unique biochemical individuality including how much, for example heavy metals their bodies could tolerate. Also the rate of detoxification by our eliminating organs, such as the kidney, liver etc… differ in individuals. Therefor, you have to take all of that in consideration. He left me with the question of “why would you want your system burdened with putting a material such as mercury in the body?” The birth of neurological disease, Alzheimer’s surfaced 30-50 years ago – there is no doubt in Dr. Elmajian’s mind that the brain is loaded with heavy materials and dentistry and neurological disease have some relationship.
Prevention is the key. We have the information, now we need to prevent. I asked what parents can do when their children have been told they have cavities (as mine do). He said the composite can be used, but with caution. When I asked about using Gold in an adult’s mouth he said there are many people that react to gold because of allergies and that the new ceramics that are emerging are good alternatives and yes, then are adhered with a thin bonding material. Dr. Elmajian also shared that parents across North America that are looking for answers or resources to contact, can log onto the following sites: www.IABDM.com or www.IAOMT.com (great site – you can find dentists in your province and state that don’t use mercury!).
The discussion of fluoride was also a very passionate topic with Dr. Elmajian. For over 25 years, fluoride has been an unnecessary addition into our bodies. Because it’s in the food chain, we are still getting access to it – even if it’s not in our drinking water, toothpaste, or dental routine. He agreed that xylitol is good with combating the ‘bugs’ that cause tooth decay. Simple to understand: acid = decay. Bugs eat the xylitol and therefor don’t produce the acid. In addition to using xylitol, genetic makeup says a lot about the condition of your teeth, proper hygiene is huge (proper plaque removal), and taking a good liquid form of minerals to absorb into the body. Liquid minerals, Dr. Elmajian explained are very important because we don’t get enough minerals in our food. Also proper brushing and flossing is important because plaque is composed of many colonies of millions of microbes of different genetic make up. Some are known to cause cardiovascular disease and auto immune disease. The decay causing microbe is called strep mutans. The microbes that create acid can destroy our tooth enamel. When plaque is removed, these steps won’t occur. I called Planet Organic and they told me that liquid minerals are available (their brand is called Liquid Mineral Concentrace) and although minerals are available in tablet, the system will absorb the liquid form more quickly.
I’d like to thank Dr. Elmajian for taking the time out of his very busy schedule to talk with me. It must be very rewarding for Dr. Elmajian to be a pioneer in the world of holistic approaches with dentistry. Traditional dentistry seems to have some ‘old boys club’ type characteristics and it is up to you to question your dentist. It’s no longer the greenie hippies talking about the dangers of fluoride and mercury. Talk to your doctor, talk to a holistic doctor, and talk to your naturopath until you are comfortable with the answers given for dental care. We need to think about what is being put in a porous area of our body and what the effects are with heat, cold, grinding, and age. Wow – such an enlightening day and although this journey can be scary, I always like to embrace the knowledge that certain professions and traditional ‘experts’ don’t have the answers. Rather, many beliefs in dentistry seem out of date and downright dangerous if these people aren’t questioned. Thank you Dr. Elmajian – I hope to be back with more questions…thank you for the last 30 years of holistic dentistry & knowledge.
Greening celebrations & Halloween is a hot topic this year. One aspect of party planning that many hosts struggle to green is when using disposable tableware, specifically at children’s parties and Halloween. But we’ve made advances in biodegradable and compostable disposable tableware options and it’s never been easier to keep the fun and excitement and the environmental impact low at these celebrations. Don’t believe me? Check out the awesome pictures of bagasse plates stamped with beet juice at the bottom of this post.
Halloween parties don’t have to be a wasteful affair – make a goal to host a little or no-waste party. We’ve already talked about Halloween decorating so lets talk tableware. I agree that some of the printed/licensed napkins, plates and cups are adorable for Halloween, but it’s important to green this aspect of party planning. With the proper Eco-friendly tabletop accents**, this is the easiest area to green and guests will love the effect of earth friendly disposable tableware! Using your own dishware is the best way to booster your green with party planning, but this isn’t always a practical option. We host an annual Halloween party and I know with over 20 kids running through my house, there’s no way I’m giving them my everyday dishes. Here are some Eco-friendly options for disposable tableware & some spooky facts you’ll want to learn about traditional cups and plates..
Hot Cups:
Bring out the hot chocolate or apple cider, but make sure you’re using hot cups lined with PLA. Traditional paper hot cups are lined with petroleum-based resin. Ever wondered why you get that nasty after taste after you’ve purchased a coffee or hot drink from a cafeteria or store? This is plastic melting and being absorbed into your body. Compostable hot cups are a great addition to your next party because the interior resin of the cups is lined with PLA (poly lactic acid) which is derived from renewable resources such as sugarcane and starches (corn).
We all know styrofoam cups (styrofoam anything for that matter) are terrible for the environment. But if we truly understood their destruction many of us, including myself, would stand up and make more noise when we see it being used. I ran across this description of styrofoam used by the Wonkette talking about the U.S. Capitol bringing styrofoam back into their cafeteria after banning it for 4 years. Sometimes it’s great to have a description that doesn’t sugar coat to stick into our minds if a business or event service needs a reminder about how bad styrofoam is. Quote from Wonkette:
“Foamed polystyrene” is a miraculous invention that manages to be completely awful through every step of its near-eternal “life cycle” — it is manufactured with petroleum that must be imported from Middle East dictatorships, toxic “styrene oligomers” migrate into the food it holds, it’s highly flammable and produces black poisonous smoke, and most of the 25 billion polystyrene cups tossed every year will take more than half a millennium to degrade.
Sometimes it takes shocking statistics to really reinforce that these products should never been used because of the environmental consequences. Let’s also not forget that polystyrene is a strong plastic that is ‘foamed’ into Styrofoam. I sometimes forget that Styrofoam is plastic because of the different texture but it’s polystyrene created from erethylene and benzine that is inject or blow molded. Do you want to pour hot liquid into this soup of plastic materials?
Plates:
Traditional Halloween disposable party plates hmmmmm pick your evil a) licensed paper plates made from virgin trees and inked with toxic dye 2) Styrofoam plates that are devastating to the environment 3) plastic plates that take forever to biodegrade and often end up polluting our forests and water. Now think about using compostable plates. Not only are they biodegradable, but also compostable as they are made from excess plant materials that otherwise would have gone to waste! The first option for plates is perfect for Halloween, not because they are scary, but fit into the theme of Fall beautifully because palm leaf plates are manufactured from fallen leaves. It is very cool to tell a child that a leaf fell from a tree, was picked up for a villager, cleaned with die, and shaped into a plate. Little children and all party guests will understand this story and love learning how palm plates are made without any disruption to the tree and because they are made without dyes, wax, finishes of any kind ~ they are compostable and a very earth friendly option with party tableware. An other option with biodegradable and compostable plates are those made from bagasse which is a fibrous pulp that is left over after processing sugar cane. A cool story as well because this material would have otherwise been turned into waste and again, no trees are used in the manufacturing of these plates. So although they are stamped ‘tree free’ along the edge, guests may assume they are a paper plate because of the color and texture. Make sure to inform party guests about the bagasse plates so they don’t assume they are made from paper. One way to catch guests attention is to personalize these party plates. I use beet juice to dye the homemade play dough I made my children. This way I get a brightly colored play dough using vegetable dye rather than brightly colored play dough from using synthetic food coloring. Well why not stamp your bagasse plates with a rubber stamp and beet juice? You are using a natural dye to make these plates look different that will create some buzz and questions. It’s also super fun for the kids! My niece and I tried this tonight and the results were fantastic. She also loved learning how an organic substance like beet juice should be used to stamp with because you wouldn’t want any other material like traditional ink a guest’s plate that will contain food. The texture of the bagasse plates is great for absorbing the beet juice and also makes for very strong plates.
** Tabletop accents. We’ve decided on a mixture of ways to dress-up our Halloween tabletop for this year’s party. We are painting little pumpkins and gourds from our local patch and making them into ghosts and black cats. We’ve also sprinkled some pine cones and crazy shaped gourds from the patch. Felt appliques that act as reusable confetti are also a great way to punch up a table.
This post is part of the 2011 Greening your Halloween Blog Tour brought to us by Green Planet Parties, Green Halloween, Green Gift Guide, Surf Sweets and A Little Bit of Momsense.
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I ran across an interesting interview regarding fluoride. Dr. Joseph Mercola is interviewing Dr. Osmunson who for the last 5 years has championed at the legislated level regarding fluoride. So many points in this interview really shocked me. If you have time, here is a link to the video interview. If not – here are the Cole’s notes (worth a look if you don’t know if your community adds fluoride to your drinking water and if you use toothpaste with fluoride):
Important to canvas your local community group to find out if fluoride is added to your drinking water. Did you know?
~we are encouraged to spit out 1/4 milligram of fluoride in toothpaste but in cities that add fluoride to their water – this amount of fluoride will be ingested by drinking one glass of water.
~ China doesn’t allow fluoride in their drinking water and so they export their industrial waste to the US where the fluoride from this is added to drinking water. Crazy so I’m going to say it again! China is shipping their waste products to the US to add to their drinking water.
~ The US needs to import China’s industrial waste (fluoride) because they don’t manufacture enough in the US. They are using up their own supply, plus need more from other countries like China.
~ This ‘waste’ that is added to drinking water is contaminated with lead, arsenic, aluminum. ** All the things we try so hard to avoid with everyday products is added to drinking water **
Fluoride in Dental Care
~ if there is a benefit to fluoride to dental health, it no longer exists because we ingest too much of it.
~ read the warning labels on toothpaste for children ingesting fluoridated toothpaste- some include warnings that include poison control.
~ most people use more than a month’s suggested toothpaste portion on their brush for a single brush. This is also advertised by toothpaste/brush companies in their advertising campaigns when they show a brush covered with toothpaste.
~ ** I found this point SO interesting ** The National Research Council says that fluoride is not beneficial over the age of 8 because our teeth have finished forming. So as the Doctor points out, experts agree that fluoride should not be given under the age of 1 and is no longer needed after the age of 8. So communities that add fluoride to water, etc. so people of all ages ingest it, even it’s only supposed to target children ages 1-8?
This summary takes you to about the 8 min mark of the video. The remainder of the interview focuses on brain development and the effects on the brain that fluoride has. They also cover naturally occurring fluoride in water compared to artificial fluoride that’s added to water – super interesting stuff!
So as I wrote about last week, I’ve purchased toothpaste without fluoride for myself and children to use. I was actually feeling quite good about the changes I’ve made with more holistic practices with our dental routines and then I noticed a brief note about possible BPA in children’s toothbrushes from Dr. Mercola’s website. BPA and toothbrushes? Something I haven’t thought about. And once I started thinking about it I became a little angry because the toothbrushes my kids are using were handed out from my dentist. The brand is GUM so I called and emailed GUM customer service and after waiting 5 days for a response, I’m done holding my breath waiting for an answer if their toothbrushes contain BPA or the answer to what kind of plastics they use. I feel pretty confident that any of the hard plastic parts are food grade #5 plastic. But there are lots of ‘cutesy’ parts on a child’s toothbrush that is rubbery and soft so I am not confident that they pieces are phthalate or plasticizer free. That would really upset me since these parts go into my child’s mouth (!!).
Thank goodness for two of my wonderful sponsors My Little Green Shop and Nayla Natural Care for the safe options they offer in their stores. I love the bamboo toothbrush offered at My Little Green Shop – you can compost this brush at the end of it’s life. Nayla Natural Care has carried the Green Beaver toothpaste brand for a long time and went as far to take a picture of the ingredients list for me to confirm this toothpaste does contain xylitol! I couldn’t confirm this in my last article about greener dental health so thank you Gwen! I would recommend Green Beaver as a trusted brand and will be picking up this brand next to try on kids who are still adjusting to the different tastes of all natural toothpaste.
More to come in the ‘greener dental care’ series! So much to learn with holistic vs. traditional dental care for myself and children.
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Xylitol – Natural Dental Care
