Monthly Archives: April 2008

Canada Deems Bisphenol-A Toxic

I’m really not too surprised to see this happen, with everything that’s been said lately of Bisphenol-A. It’s also very encouraging. How often do you really see a government do something like this because they just want to take a precautionary step?

One could hope for more often.

It’s really encouraging that Nalgene has already agreed to stop using it, now we just need more companies saying enough is enough when it comes to risking our health on products that aren’t looking all that safe. It would be nice to have it out of those plastics we do use, and out of the linings of cans.

Out of baby products is particularly important to me, even though my own children are solidly beyond the baby bottle and pacifier phase and never used those much anyhow. Even Walmart is dumping bottles with BPA in them now.

It’s a sad truth of life that many companies have no problem ignoring their customer’s health when their profits are at stake. But profits are there to be had now by catering to more alert consumers.

Does It Matter Where Your Food Comes From?

Eating local is a big buzzword right now. The idea is to cut back on carbon emissions. But this report on Discovery shows that it’s not so much where your food comes from, it’s what you’re eating.

From the article:

transporting food from the farm or production site to the store contributed only 4 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. food supply, while producing the food accounted for 83 percent.

That’s taking into consideration more than just carbon production. Carbon dioxide isn’t the only problem we’re dealing with here, after all.

So what should you do?

Well, just what you’d expect. The article says that red meat produces about 2.5 times the amount of greenhouse gases than any chicken or pork. So the more you cut back on beef, the more impact you’re having.

Fine by me. I’m not ready to become a vegetarian, but I already prefer chicken to beef anyhow.

If you’re wondering about the groupings, here’s more from the article:

Dairy products come in second in greenhouse impact in most of the team’s analyses, since they also come from cows. Cereals and carbohydrates; chicken, fish and eggs; and fruits and vegetables were similar to each other in their contributions.

Of course, all this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go local; there’s nothing wrong with decreasing those aspects you can control. But it brings up the very good point that there are bigger things you should be thinking about too.

Bisphenol-A is the Word

At least, it’s the word I’m hearing more and more about these days. It has come to the attention of a lot of people that plastics made with it may not be as safe as claimed. In fact, Canada is looking at regulating or banning it.

Sounds good to me. It seems like we’re taking an awful chance by insisting that it’s safe enough.

Now I know it probably isn’t leaching into my food or drinks enough to matter. But the trouble with saying it’s probably safe is that it’s admitting we don’t quite know. And when there are alternatives that are more likely to be safe, it just makes more sense to me to go with those.

It’s going to mean some changes for me. My desk water bottle is made of Nalgene, which contains Bisphenol-A. Once I have the money, it’s getting replaced. I learned long since not to use a glass often at my desk. I ruined two keyboards that way. I’m thinking of getting a Klean Kanteen when the time comes, or maybe a Sigg, although I gather Sigg won’t say what their liner is.

I particularly want you to think about this quote from Energy and Commerce Chair John Dingell that I read over on TreeHugger:

“There are serious health concerns about whether Bisphenol A is safe, not only for adults, but for children and infants,” and is concerned that the Food and Drug Administration’s policies on BPA are “entirely dependent on two studies’ that are both funded by a subsidiary of the American Chemistry Council, which represents plastic resins manufacturers.”

It seems to me that we’ve been burned by that kind of a situation before.  Of course the manufacturers’ studies show that it’s safe enough. So long as the dangers aren’t too obvious, it’s easy to say that. But what about long term?

Anyone really enjoy being a lab rat?

Yes, I suppose this does sound a little paranoid or some such. But I’ve given this a lot of thought, and it just makes sense to me to allow caution to rule.