Plastic Pollution, cont.

Thank you Susan for bringing this excellent article to my attention!

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/a-clear-and-plastic-danger.html

Their tips:

8 Ways to Reduce Your Exposure
The following practices will help protect you–and most importantly, your children–from harm caused by endocrine disrupters. Learn more about endocrine disrupters at Theo Colborn’s site www.endocrinedisruption.com.

1. Drink out of and store food in glass, stainless steel, porcelain, or BPA- and phthalate-free plastic.

2. Don’t wash plastic items in the dishwasher, which can cause endocrine disrupters to leach onto other items. Wash plasticware in warm, soapy water instead.

3. Never microwave plastic–the heat may drive endocrine disrupters into food.

4. Throw out scratched or hazy-looking plastic containers, which are more prone to leaching chemical nasties.

5. Limit or eliminate canned foods, especially baby formula. Acidic foods such as tomatoes are more likely to absorb the BPA in the can linings.

6. Make coffee or tea some other way than running hot water through a plastic appliance. Good alternatives: A glass and stainless-steel French press or a stainless-steel percolator.

7. Search the chemical content of toys at www.healthytoys.org. PVC content is listed (phthalates are not), but toys made with PVC generally include phthalates.

8. Go to this site for a list of phthalate-free cosmetics.

Safer Plastics by the Numbers
To avoid the most dangerous plastics, look at the number in the recycling triangle located on the bottom of the container.

Unsafe
1-Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET, PETE): Used in soft-drink and single-use water bottles. Can leak the heavy metal antimony.
3-Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): Contains phthalates.
7-Other: This catch-all category includes bisphenol-A.

Safer
2-High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
4-Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
5-Polypropylene (PP)

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