At these times, it's a challenge for us to forego using products made of polycarbonates. Everything that we buy or use, more or less, have some components of plastic. Most of its use are in our day to day activities such as for meal preparations and food storage. In this age of plastics, glass containers seem to have faded away. You can hardly find one. That is why more people are getting sick all the time, our health deteriorating and our children's development and growth is suffering. It was unheard of when I was a teenager that a girl of eight would already have her menses. It's not news to us if we hear that today because we know that it is because of the BPA that imitates estrogen, the female hormone. An astonishing 90% of the populace, as revealed in scientific investigations, have small traces of BPA in their bloodstream.
In 1891, Bisphenol was created but its production was introduced in the market only in the 50's. The delayed release in the market was justified because of BPA seeping out from the plastic containers from earlier production. BPA or Bisphenol A, according to its definition is a group of chemical compounds that are produced artificially and mainly used in polycarbonate products. Its effects on animals (even in tiny dosages), mimicking the hormone estrogen, have been determined to be detrimental to its development. To take that a step further, trace BPA has been linked in animal and test tube experiments involving hormone imbalances and BPA is known as "environmental hormones." Among these effects are cancer of the breast and prostate, early menstruation and modified brain structures. I find it very alarming to think that a lot of our baby bottles and feeders are made of plastic. Bisphenol A or BPA is indeed a very harmful substance. Canada itself was the first country to implement safety measures to restrict BPA exposure. Hey, long was it known of all the hazards this substance brings. The first evidence of its estrogenicity came from experiments in the 1930's feeding BPA to ovariectomized rats (Dodds and Lawson, 1936, 1938). The result of the research in relation to the consequences of BPA on humans were even underrated.
The principle of BPA is it hardens the plastic and giving it a lightweight feeling, creating a clear, heat resistant, electrical resistant, and shatter resistant material. Glass lenses, storage discs, computers, tools, headlights, equipments for safety in sports and medicine, incubators, reusable containers and can linings - these are but a few of the many products that is polycarbonate made.
Almost 3 million metric tons of Bisphenol A is consumed by the entire world in 2003 as shown in the Chemical Economics Handbook, SRI Consulting of August 2004.
There are some things you can do to minimize exposure to BPA's. Buying food ingredients in glass jars in the market is best. One particular example is the tomato sauce. Tomato sauces packed in plastic leaks BPA when the tomato's acid reacts to it. Have vegetables and fruits that are freshly picked as these have no BPA content. If you buy juices and sodas, choose the ones in the glass bottle. And for your baby, use glass bottles.
I use ceramic or glass every chance I get. And don't forget your pets. Use ceramic, glass or stainless food and water (the toilet doesn't count!) dishes. You can even find the most beautiful colored glass and ceramic birdbaths, too. They add a wonderful decorative touch to the yard and minimize exposure to BPA's to domestic and wildlife and glass is recyclable. In any case, glass still prevails!
Acquire a ceramic bowl for your pets. They deserve the very best from you. At Best Pet Products, they have plenty of ceramic bowls to choose from. Get one now.
