So ... stop reading. Take a look around you and count how many things are made from plastic and petroleum products (don’t forget your clothes, the rug, the couch…). Pretty shocking, right? Now, before you gird yourself in animal pelts and live in the woods, keep in mind that many plastic products are (probably) relatively harmless. The reason for that “probably” is that we simply don’t know what the health consequences of many chemicals are. I attended a recent conference at USM called “Toxins and Tomorrow’s Children.” Several speakers referred to an interesting fact: out of the 80,000 novel chemicals used in U.S. industry today, humans have “heavy exposure” to about 15,000 of them. Out of these, guess how many have been fully tested for developing nervous system toxicity and filed with the EPA? Twelve.
Because of our laws, the burden of proof doesn’t fall on the chemical industry to prove these substances are safe. Several studies have tried to prove the safety of harmful substances, such as bisphenol-A, but the researchers worked for the chemical industry. One must prove harm before EPA action can take place, and that’s difficult and expensive. If this seems crazy to you, let your elected officials know they need to change the laws to protect us. In the meantime, I feel the most prudent thing to do is to avoid exposure as best we can. Here are some useful tips:
Which plastic is safe? Number 1? Number 3? Polycarbonate vs. high-density polyethylene?
Rather than memorizing an alphabet soup, try to minimize all exposure. Get rid of all plastic water bottles, including Nalgene-type bottles — inexpensive stainless steel or aluminum water bottles are a healthier choice. (A local company recently recalled metal water bottles made in China due to lead contamination but the Sigg brand seems safe.) Reuse glass juice bottles. Avoid canned foods with plastic linings which leach into the food. Retire your Tupperware-type containers to store screws or buttons or the like. Replace them with glass food containers. Avoid the use of plastic wrap (use aluminum foil or waxed paper), and NEVER microwave in plastic containers — use glass or ceramic instead. (Better yet, get rid of the microwave altogether! It destroys most of the vitamins and other beneficial ingredients in food. But, I digress…)
It’s easy to get overwhelmed and frustrated with all the bad news we hear about our toxic world. Take a couple of baby steps in the right direction, then take a couple more. Educate your family and friends about some healthy and affordable choices you’ve discovered. I just found natural cotton shower curtains at www.healthgoods.com on sale for 10 bucks — cheaper than those smelly, toxic vinyl ones!
We are all in this together — small changes add up to saving the world.
Be well.
Sean McCloy, MD, MPH, MA is the medical director at Maine Integrative Wellness in Portland. He is dual board-certified in family medicine and holistic medicine. He specializes in integrative family medicine and can be seen walking around the Old Port with his therapy dog, Hershey. Send questions for Sean to editor@themaineswitch.com.