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Baby Bottles, Infant Formula & Popcorn Dangers? Beware! (Update) |
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Written by Dr. Edward Zimmer
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The environment in which we live is flooded with man-made chemicals. Since we all live in this “chemical soup,” it would be logical to ask whether the exposures to these substances are having a negative affect on our health. It tickles me that the chemical industry passionately claims that their chemicals are safe for human use. The reason for my amusement is that the vast majority of the more than 85,000 chemicals found on the Federal Government inventory have not been evaluated for safety. For example, 89% of the 10,500 chemical ingredients used in personal care products have not been evaluated for safety in long-term human use.
Recent revelations regarding a couple of these chemicals have recently hit the news (although we have known of these dangers for many years). The scary part of these reports is that the health related concerns can affect the most precious in our society; our children.
Bisphenol A
The first recent warning regarded a chemical which is used as the building block for polycarbonate plastics called bisphenol A (BPA). These polycarbonate plastics are found everywhere since they are clear, hard, heat-resistant, and do not impart a taste into liquids. They are used to make plastic bottles (including some baby bottles), dental resins, and the lining of canned foods.
Animal studies of BPA have revealed that it is an endocrine disrupter. In the simplest of terms, it goofs up the hormone system causing cancer-like changes in cells, can have a negative impact on brain cells and disrupts normal reproduction. The National Institutes for Health expert panel suggested that there was “some concern” that BPA could cause behavior and/or neurological problems in young children.
The Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) recently tested canned foods for BPA content. The chemical industry says that no appreciable amount of BPA leaches into the foods. That is not what EWG found. They tested 28 different types of canned foods including fruits, vegetables, pasta, beans, infant formula, meal replacements and canned milk. They tested multiple cans for each type of food. All of the spaghetti and ravioli tested showed measurable levels of BPA. 83% baked beans, 89% of soups and 33% of infant formulas contained measurable levels of BPA.
Of course, we live in the land of if a product brings in enough money then you have to have unquestionable proof that the product is dangerous before it can be pulled from the market. Products containing BPA fall into this category. The argument from those claiming that BPA poses no health concerns is that the amount found in these foods or leached from bottles is so low that there are “no proven” impact on human health. Are they wrong? Nope. So, do you worry or not? Let’s look at what we know. Animal studies clearly show that BPA is a dangerous chemical. There are no benefits to your health of being exposed to this chemical. We know for sure that it leaches into our foods from bottles and linings. We have other options to use instead of polycarbonate plastics. I guess the question to ask yourself is why you would ever use products that expose you and your children to this dangerous chemical.
Here is how you tell if a plastic contains BPA. In general, if it has the #7 on the bottom of the bottle it will most likely contain BPA. Plastics with #1, #2, or #4 on the bottom do not contain BPA.
Diacetyl
Diacetyl is a chemical found in some butter flavored popcorn products. Five years ago the New England Journal of Medicine published a study linking the popcorn chemical to a serious lung condition in 8 popcorn factory workers. A recent case of a man with this lung condition, bronchiolitis obliterans, has been linked to his large consumption of butter flavored popcorn. Actually, it is the popcorn vapor/smell that is dangerous.
The fact is that you really need to be exposed to a large amount of diacetyl before you would ever have to worry about lung disease. Eating or smelling a bag of chemically-laced popcorn is not going to give you lung disease. But, when you think of it this way it really takes away the appeal of eating flavored popcorn. So, the next time you go to the movies and are asked if you would like butter flavoring on your popcorn, they are really asking you if you would like them to drench your popcorn with chemicals mixed together to taste like butter. Yum…Yum!!
Is it a good idea to avoid products containing diacetyl? I would say you bet! Although ConAgra Foods is planning on dropping diacetyl in the near future, it will be some time before their products that contain this chemical are off of the market. This includes Act II and Jiffy Pop, to name a few. As far as I can tell, Pop Weaver is the only company that does not currently add diacetyl to their popcorn.
The bottom line is that the more you can lower your exposures to all chemicals the better. When you find out about chemicals like BPA and diacetyl, get them out of your life! Our consistent exposure to low levels of these chemicals is arguably having a devastating impact on our total health. My suggestion is that you decrease your exposures and to keep in mind that you can boost your body’s ability to get rid of these dangerous chemicals by performing a whole body internal detox protocol. For more information click on this link: Detox Your Body
I perform this detox two times a year and urge you to do the same.
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