BPA in DVD’s, Water Bottles, & Sports Equipment
I’m sure you’ve all heard of the scandals behind the chemical BPA, also known as Bisphenol-A. It’s in the lining of cans and bottles, baby bottles, dental sealants, water coolers, sports equipment, household electronics, and just about everything else that is mass produced. It has been linked to obesity, prostate cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, low sperm count in men, brain disorders, and a slew of other gloomy diseases we hope to never contract. But if this stuff is so bad for us, then how on earth did it end up in almost everything we come into contact with?
Back in the day, 1936 to be exact, a paper was published in Nature declaring that the chemical BPA was considered for use to be an estrogenic drug. The idea is already starting to sound pretty darn questionable…Well then in the 40’s and 50’s, the chemical industry began to use BPA to manufacture the plastics and epoxy resins (used as linings for metal food cans) that we are familiar with today. But according to the FDA, low dose exposure is harmless to humans. It’s also pretty cheap, so they decided… why not use it in everything! The legitimacy of BPA was based on only 2 studies, which were ironically funded by the chemical industry, who also just so happens to profit from BPA (a measly $7 billion a year industry.) However, over 200 independent peer reviewed studies have show concern for our exposure to this venomous chemical. Pretty frightening, right?
So what can you do about this? Canada has already outlawed the use of BPA completely, Minnesota and Connecticut have banned it from reusable food and beverage containers, and Chicago and New York Suffolk County have applied similar bans. So why not join the movement? Write to one of your local officials, or better yet all of them! Here in Vermont we have Peter Welch, Patrick Leahy, and Bernard Sanders.
The website for the documentary Tapped has a great tool that gives you all the contact information you need. It’s also an excellent documentary and I would highly recommend it.
Simply go to the Take Action tab and select Ask Congress To Fund Our Water Infrastructure in the left column. Enter your zip code or select your state and your ready to go!
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toriegehlmeyer posted this
