In a lengthy review article, published in 2007, researchers reported that low doses of BPA during development affect brain structure, function, and behavior in rats and mice. While the researchers stress that this correlation does not prove there's a link, their report concludes, ominously, that "if the hypothesis holds true, premature sexual development in Puerto Rico may prove to be an unfortunate example of the impact of endocrine-disrupting environmental chemicals at a critical stage of human development. These practices help limit bacteria. No. But food storage, reheating, and serving are not among them. In Puerto Rico, researchers have been studying girls who have developed breasts at extremely young ages (before 8, and most starting before 2). Don’t put hot food in plastic containers. Food storage bags can be broken into or bit open by pests. Opinions in the US and Europe vary widely when it comes to putting hot food in the refrigerator. And when the agency finally — last year — proposed a draft list of 73 chemicals for the first round of testing, neither BPA nor phthalates were on it. ", "We think girls are maturing younger and younger," says Mount Sinai's Dr. Galvez, "and we're now trying to find out if endocrine disruptors play a role." Use BPA-free baby bottles and sippy cups. Clean the sink in the kitchen and fill it with clean cold water and ice. 1. But in humans it's hard to prove cause and effect with 100 percent certainty, says Andrea Gore. To reduce the risk that plastic chemicals will leach into food during heating, avoid cooking in plastic containers, even if the label says 'microwave safe,' or 'oven safe'. Then place the pot of food or smaller containers in the ice water. ", The NTP advice to consumers was hard to decode. Results: No detectable BPA or phthalates migrated from the products into the simulants. Nor does anyone know for sure whether BPA accumulates in humans over time, though most scientists believe adults process it quickly — in as little as a day. If you are stuck and you absolutely must microwave in plastic, follow the manufacturer's directions carefully. Well, really not. What we found was reassuring — but to really protect your family, there's more you need to know. Generally, plastics with the numbers 1, 2, and 4 are OK; many experts say that containers marked 5 are too, but one of the BPA-containing items in our tests was labeled 5. The key is to store food in a shallow container that can be sealed when the food has cooled. Using glass jars is the recommended method for storing food in the pantry as chemical leaching can occur when food is stored in plastic containers. How likely is this? If the chemicals are getting into food, we need to understand what that means for our health. (Our federal health agencies, like the FDA, allow the use of food simulants in testing.) California, Washington State, and Vermont, for example, have limited the allowable amount of phthalates in children's products, and Congress added a partial phthalate ban to its new consumer-protection law, passed in August. Be careful not to let water in the sink mix with food … Certain medical researchers have also identified a range of hormone-related developmental issues that can arise in children exposed to these chemicals. Fortunately, there are ways around this plastic problem. Bags, microwaves, and ice chests all make it much easier to run a small-time food kiosk, container, or restaurant, but they have a downside as well: when heated, these plastic materials can release damaging chemicals into the food, which can cause diners serious medical complications down the road. Keep the levels below a certain threshold and you'll be OK. That's why the FDA issued its reassuring statement and why the American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group, also believes the amounts of BPA we ingest are safe. The insides of food cans are often lined with an epoxy resin that keeps corroding metal away from the food. If you must put hot food in the refrigerator, try not to put hot food in deep containers. The good news: Twenty-seven of the products tested contained no phthalates or BPA. While the FDA has issued reassuring statements about the risk, other experts aren't so convinced. Nor should hot food be stored in a plastic container without first allowing time for the hot food to cool down. Though you may see "BPA-free" on some canned goods, food manufacturers are not required to list the chemical on labels, so you have no way of knowing whether it's present. Bisphenol A If you want clues to the components of plastics, check the recycling codes on the bottoms of containers. Here in Accra, thin plastic bags and styrofoam packs are the preferred containers for take-away food. (A fourth item, Glad Storage Gallon Zipper Bags, was found to contain low levels of BPA, but was eliminated from food testing since it's unlikely that anyone would use the bags for heating liquid foods like pasta sauce or gravy.). Number 7 may contain BPA and 3 may contain phthalates. The research is still in its early days, and much of what we know comes from work with animals. Today, as DES children — and now DES grandchildren — have grown up, doctors have cataloged a long list of reproductive and other abnormalities linked to the drug. 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I now store leftovers in ceramic or glass containers in the fridge, and I don't put anything plastic in the microwave because there's still a lot to learn about the interactions of heat and plastic — and it's easy to find an alternative. But it was passed over for a stronger synthetic estrogen — the notorious diethylstilbestrol (DES) — which, starting in the 1940s, was given to pregnant women to prevent miscarriage. "It can be a question of when in addition to how much." The results: When food was heated in these containers in the microwave (or, in the case of Press 'n Seal, in a glass bowl covered with the wrap prior to microwaving), all three suspect products passed: "No detectable amounts" (to use the scientific phrase) of BPA or phthalates wound up in either the tomato sauce or the gravy. Putting plastic containers in the dishwasher should also be avoided. In short, we gathered together a potpourri of the kind of plastic items most of us use for heating foods. "We're exposed to so many things, and our mothers ate and drank this or that and 50 years later we get breast cancer," she says. Just one to three servings of those foods with those concentrations could expose a woman or a child to BPA at levels that cause serious adverse effects in animal tests, the group concluded. Their 2000 study showed that these children had phthalate levels, on average, almost seven times higher than those in a control group of girls. The numbers were startling and puzzling: "We don't really know where all our exposure comes from," says Shanna Swan, Ph.D., director of the Center for Reproductive Epidemiology at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. In one study of adult men, those with higher-than-average phthalate levels tended to have a larger waist circumference and increased insulin resistance, precursors to diabetes. Whether it’s reusable melamine or the one-time-use plastic plates and cups, they’re potentially worse for you when heated. And if they're not, we'd like to stop hyperventilating. (University of Cincinnati researchers found that baby bottles leached BPA into boiling water up to 55 times faster than into room-temperature water.) But even if we're not being directly poisoned, there still may be chronic health effects, say experts whose studies point to a different way of assessing harm. Choose soups and broths that come in aseptic boxes or dried soup mixes in nonplastic bags. However, the final report, released in September, downgraded the concern for the mammary glands and earlier puberty from "some" to "minimal. And avoid putting plastic items in the dishwasher; the detergent and heat break down the plastic, which may cause BPA, if it's present, to leach out. 1 hour ago, Overweight: High-risk Factor for Oral Health, Why you should sweat it out: Insights from Herbalife Nutriti, Delaying vaccination due to COVID can increase the risk of v, Study finds obesity contributes to 40% mortality gap between, How to get rid of Malware from your Android Smartphone, Ghanaian Visual Artist Receives 2020 Principal Prince Claus, The Aguyiba story: from Gardener to Chief Office Assistant. We all instinctively know it. Shallow containers or small amounts of hot food can be placed directly in the refrigerator. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, What You Need to Know to Get Rid of Bed Bugs, FYI: You Need to Clean Your Washer Once a Month, 2020's Can You Change How You Age Makeover, No Kid Hungry Is Our Newest Humanitarian Seal Star, Everything You Need to Know About Beautyblenders, Why You Might Want to Consider the iPhone XR, Philip Friedman/Studio D; J Muckle/Studio D. Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. However, the fact that so many of us have the compound in our bodies means that we're exposed to it daily, says Dr. Jacob. While more and more reports about BPA-affected lab animals were coming in, other scientists were growing concerned about another group of endocrine disruptors: phthalates. Styrofoam is bad. The evidence is mounting that plastic food containers are bad for our health. Plastics are far more likely to leach chemicals when heated. Also, not all phthalates have been linked to health problems. The chemical has also been found in household dust, where it settles as plastic products break down and scatter microscopic particles. In contrast, the European Commission has already begun screening chemicals for possible endocrine effects, and has identified 320 that will be subject to additional, rigorous testing. Whether it is rice, porridge, stew, or banku, roadside food joints and chop bars serve it up hot in this cheap, convenient packaging for thousands of customers every day. Be extra cautious with infants: If you use commercial formula, buy it in powdered form, which comes in a foil-lined cardboard container and shouldn't have any BPA, says the FDA. In 2000, the EPA established the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program. That's why the Good Housekeeping Research Institute undertook testing of widely available storage containers, bags, wraps, frozen-entrée trays, and slow-cooker liners to see if these chemicals were, in fact, migrating into food — a kind of real-world investigation that would help moms decide just how cautious they need to be. Like BPA, phthalates have been "added" to most of us as well. Warm food, whether steaming or not, will cause some condensation in a plastic container, but unless we compare many samples of the same food, and measure the bacteria growth on food left out for 30 minutes and then sealed, versus the bacteria growth on foods sealed right away and refrigerated right away, we have no way of knowing whether this is true. This is because separating the cups’ film lining from the paper can be difficult and because food contamination can decrease the value of the material. Both the tests and the research point to the smartest ways to keep our families safe. Use Glass or Stainless Steel Containers. So I've grown increasingly alarmed over news stories on plastics in recent months. "There was nothing in our report that should cause alarm...but at the same time, people should make their own decision about which precautions they want to take," says Michael Shelby, Ph.D., director of the NTP's Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction. The biggest worry has been over BPA and phthalates getting into food and drinks (and into toys small children chew on). (Ironically, it turned out that DES didn't prevent the miscarriages for which it had been prescribed in the first place.) But news reports have suggested that this may not be perfectly safe, that if there are chemicals — phthalates and BPA — in the plastic, they might migrate into our food. 4. It's possible, say many researchers, that early exposure to chemicals like BPA is making more of us grow up to be chubby, infertile, or more prone to illness as kids and adults. The United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service warns that such containers can melt or warp in the heat. "An average adult would have to consume more than 500 pounds of canned foods and beverages every day" just to reach the safety standards set in the U.S. and Europe, says Steven Hentges, executive director of the ACC's Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group. Usually, a fraction of that level is what's allowed in our food and consumer products. Today, very few communities recycle paper hot cups of any type. But we need more definitive answers than the authorities have been giving us. This new understanding turns the "dose makes the poison" logic on its head, suggesting that even tiny levels can cause damage if exposure happens at a particularly sensitive time during development, such as when a fetus's brain or sex organs are forming in the womb. When plastic is heated, says Scientific American, it leaches chemicals 55 times faster than normal. The American Chemistry Council says there are no phthalates in plastic food containers or wraps. One plastic wrap, Glad Press 'n Seal, had tested positive for low levels of both phthalates and BPA. In that 2005 study, women with the highest phthalate levels were most likely to give birth to sons with smaller penises, smaller testes, and "reduced ano-genital distance" (the space between the testes and the anus). Plastic take-out cartons, margarine tubs, or yogurt containers may not hold up to wear and tear or freezer temperatures. Or, as some scientists now put it, "the timing makes the poison," says Andrea Gore, Ph.D., who studies hormone disruptors at the University of Texas at Austin. We shipped several samples of each item off to an independent lab, where they were shredded into bits, then analyzed to see if any detectable amounts of BPA and phthalates were present in the products. 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