The Risks Of BPA In Our Food

When I was a teen, instead of stow-bought food storage containers, we would save the empty margarine bowls and use those to keep leftovers. When it was time to reheat the food, we left it in the margarine bowl and put the entire thing in the microwave. Reusing the old margarine bowls in this way was our way of not only saving money, but also keeping one more plastic container out of a landfill.

That was about 20 years ago. We now know that when we stow food in plastic containers the plastic can release a compound called Bisphenol A (BPA) into the food or liquid. When we consume the food or liquid, we also ingest the BPA which is an environmental estrogen. If you search the Web, you will quickly see that BPA has been associated to cancer, heart problems, diabeties, obesity, and even hyperactivity in children.

Foods or liquids can absorb BPA from plastics just by touching them. Scott Belcher, PhD and his team at the University of Cincinnati found that BPA was released into liquid up to 55 times faster when the fluid was heated. That means that heating up your food or drink in plastic storage containers is even worse than simply storing the food in the plastic containers.

It's still somewhat uncertain what level of BPA is unsafe in the human body. Luckily, our bodies do a pretty good job of filtering out a large portion of our daily toxic exposure. It seems that everyone has their own level of element tolerance. In spite of this, what makes BPA so dangerous is the fact that it mimics hormones naturally found in the body which is more difficult for the body to filter.

BPA is used to make many things that we (or our food and drink) are exposed to frequently, such as dental composites, sealants, water containers, and aluminum can linings. In fact, it's quite hard to escape this terrible compound.

Canada banned the use of BPA in baby bottles in 2008, however here in the US there is no such law, as we are the land ruled by large corporations who hire lobbyists to line the pockets of our lawmakers. Luckily, some of the more forward-thinking manufacturers in the US have voluntarily eliminated BPA laden plastics from their products.

Article Source: http://www.everyonesarticles.com

For your own safety, I beg of you to look for bottles and containers that advertise to be BPA-Free. This is very important in food and drink containers. Our family uses Pyrex storage containers, but if you in love with plastic, Rubbermaid food storage containers are also BPA-free. As babies are still devoloping and more sensitive to these toxins, it's essential that you only use baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, and other toys (which end up in the baby's mouth) that are BPA-free.

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