How to choose the “numbers” of plastic that are probably safest.
Which Plastics Are Harmful?
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The lining of food cans—like cans of beans—can contain a chemical called BPA, otherwise most commonly found in polycarbonate plastics. There is a battle raging in North America about the safety of BPA. Last year, Canada decided to start banning it as a toxic chemical, whereas the U.S. FDA said the stuff was completely fine. Who to believe? The science. Always.
Are the Canadians right? Or is this one thing the Bush administration’s science policy got right?
There are about a dozen new studies I could put up, but this is the one probably getting the most attention, from the Journal of the American Medical Association, linking BPA levels to heart disease, diabetes, and liver inflammation.
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to stay away from the stuff. The general rule is to stay away from number 3, and hard, clear number 7s. Numbers 2 and 5 are probably the safest—high density polyethylene and polypropylene.
But you don’t want to microwave even “microwave-safe” plastic, and I would encourage people to move to glass Tupperware®, and glass or stainless steel water bottles.
BPA is used in the lining of food cans, but thankfully, very little seems to leach into the food—even from acidic foods, like canned tomatoes. There are BPA-free canned foods on the market now, like the ones used by Eden Foods, but the benefits of eating any kind of beans far, far outweigh any risks. Remember, bean consumption means reduced blood pressure, lower body weight, and a slimmer waist.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- I. A. Lang, T. S. Galloway, A. Scarlett, W. E. Henley, M. Depledge, R. B. Wallace, and D. Melzer. Association of urinary bisphenol a concentration with medical disorders and laboratory abnormalities in adults. Jama, pages 300-311, 2008.
- L. Grumetto, D. Montesano, S. Seccia, S. Albrizio, and F. Barbato. Determination of bisphenol a and bisphenol b residues in canned peeled tomatoes by reversed-phase liquid chromatography. J. Agric. Food. Chem., 56(22):10633-10637, 2008.
- Papanikolaou Y1, Fulgoni VL 3rd. Bean consumption is associated with greater nutrient intake, reduced systolic blood pressure, lower body weight, and a smaller waist circumference in adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002. J Am Coll Nutr. 2008 Oct;27(5):569-76.
The lining of food cans—like cans of beans—can contain a chemical called BPA, otherwise most commonly found in polycarbonate plastics. There is a battle raging in North America about the safety of BPA. Last year, Canada decided to start banning it as a toxic chemical, whereas the U.S. FDA said the stuff was completely fine. Who to believe? The science. Always.
Are the Canadians right? Or is this one thing the Bush administration’s science policy got right?
There are about a dozen new studies I could put up, but this is the one probably getting the most attention, from the Journal of the American Medical Association, linking BPA levels to heart disease, diabetes, and liver inflammation.
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to stay away from the stuff. The general rule is to stay away from number 3, and hard, clear number 7s. Numbers 2 and 5 are probably the safest—high density polyethylene and polypropylene.
But you don’t want to microwave even “microwave-safe” plastic, and I would encourage people to move to glass Tupperware®, and glass or stainless steel water bottles.
BPA is used in the lining of food cans, but thankfully, very little seems to leach into the food—even from acidic foods, like canned tomatoes. There are BPA-free canned foods on the market now, like the ones used by Eden Foods, but the benefits of eating any kind of beans far, far outweigh any risks. Remember, bean consumption means reduced blood pressure, lower body weight, and a slimmer waist.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- I. A. Lang, T. S. Galloway, A. Scarlett, W. E. Henley, M. Depledge, R. B. Wallace, and D. Melzer. Association of urinary bisphenol a concentration with medical disorders and laboratory abnormalities in adults. Jama, pages 300-311, 2008.
- L. Grumetto, D. Montesano, S. Seccia, S. Albrizio, and F. Barbato. Determination of bisphenol a and bisphenol b residues in canned peeled tomatoes by reversed-phase liquid chromatography. J. Agric. Food. Chem., 56(22):10633-10637, 2008.
- Papanikolaou Y1, Fulgoni VL 3rd. Bean consumption is associated with greater nutrient intake, reduced systolic blood pressure, lower body weight, and a smaller waist circumference in adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002. J Am Coll Nutr. 2008 Oct;27(5):569-76.
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Title
Which Plastics Are Harmful?
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
For more on the health risks associated with chemicals found in plastics, check out:
BPA Plastic and Male Sexual Dysfunction
Dietary Sources of Alkylphenol Endocrine Disruptors
Despite the risks of BPA in the linings of canned beans, the benefits are worth it. Check out:
Increased Lifespan From Beans
Beans and the Second Meal Effect
Beans, Beans, They’e Good For Your Heart
And check out my other videos on industrial toxins.
For more context, also see my associated blog posts: Pollutants in Californian Breast Tissue; Do Eden Beans Have Too Much Iodine? and Soy milk: shake it up!
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