Plastic Toxins
Plastic toxins: An overview
All plastics contain toxic additives. Additives like BPA and Pthalates are added to plastics to enhance their properties e.g colour, transparency, hardness, stiffness. Plastic toxins LEACH into food and water upon contact at any temperature. The use of these additives is extremely widespread in plastics. The images below show very common items found in most homes. Every single product shown contains these additives, yes, even the tin cans! (BPA lining)
Colour is added to plastics using paint that contains heavy metals. Colours are the result of heavy metal content. Thus the more colourful a plastic product, the more toxic it is to the human body!
Microwaveable containers are also extremely common these days, but microwave-safe DOES NOT mean the container is free of toxic additives. it only means that it can withstand the temperature inside the microwave without melting. Food-grade is NOT the same as health-grade.
Even products that are labelled as 'BPA Free' - as shown in the image opposite, are not free of toxic additives. Firms add the substitute chemical BPS to these, which is just as toxic as BPA.
The simple mantra really is that there are no safe plastics when it comes to food or drinks storage!
Health Implications
Plastic toxins are known as 'Endocrine disruptors'. This means that they block hormones in the body from binding to the required receptor. The plastic toxin mimics the shape of the hormone molecule and attaches to the receptor instead, throwing the body's hormonal system into imbalance. Plastic toxins strongly affect the balance of critical hormones in the body such as thyroid (growth hormone), estrogen (female sex hormone) and testosterone (male sex hormone). The ingestion of plastic also leads to severe health problems in animals - incuding dogs, cats, cows and birds. Please click the buttons below for detailed information on the health implications caused by plastic toxins on family and animal health.