Dangers of Plastic Becoming Known

Could plastic kitchenware be causing girls to reach puberty at earlier ages than nature intended, and be putting them at increased risk of breast cancer?

It’s a question most recently raised by New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof, who notes that researchers are becoming increasingly concerned about a class of chemicals called endocrine disruptors, which can simulate the effects of estrogen in triggering hormonal change. Suspected sources of exposure to such chemicals include certain plastics, as well as various cosmetics, according to Dr. Alisan Goldfarb, a surgeon specializing in breast cancer, whom Kristof consulted.

So what can we do to avoid such unnecessary and unnatural exposures?

Well, one obvious thing might be to discourage teens from using make-up, which admittedly might be a difficult challenge in our style-driven youth culture. Or, we might go to the trouble of looking for cosmetics without estrogenic compounds (taking into account that "organic" cosmetics aren’t subject to the same rigorous standards as organic foods).

Kristof, however, did have some very practical advice to offer in regard to that kitchenware. Medical experts whom he interviewed on the subject told him that they avoid microwaving food in plastic or putting plastics in the dishwasher, because heat may cause chemicals to leach out," he noted. Another suggestion came from a reminder card he was given at a symposium conducted at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, which listed "‘safer plastics’ as those marked (usually at the bottom of a container) 1, 2, 4 or 5. It suggests that the ‘plastics to avoid’ are those numbered 3, 6 and 7 (unless they are also marked "BPA-free")."

Kristof added that he planned to spend the weekend going through containers in his own home and tossing out those with the offending numbers – which is something that conscientious parents everywhere might want to do as well, without waiting to see whether Congress acts on legislation introduced this month by Representative Louise Slaughter, the only microbiologist in the House of Representatives, that would establish a comprehensive program to monitor endocrine disruptors.