The plastic types you want to avoid are Numbered 3 and 7 on their Plastic Identification Codes.
Plastic Type 3 - PVC
Plastic Type 3 is often dangerous.
It's known widely as PVC, and common uses include clothing (e.g. shoes, handbags, raincoats, fake leather and rubber items), soft and flexible plastic toys, and packaging. Phthalate plasticizers can be added to make the PVC flexible and soft.
These plasticizers are known endocrine disruptors, changing hormone levels and causing birth defects in animal tests. Endocrine disruptors also trigger fat cell activity (cause obesity), and may be linked to risk of diabetes.
Imprecise labelling: The problem is, when you see the "3" recycling symbol - which is the easiest way to identify PVC - you don't know whether phthalates have been added or not. Some PVC has had phthalates added, some hasn't.
You could argue that some may even be "safe". But because you can't tell, the logical thing to do is to consider all Number 3 plastic as unsafe, and avoid it.
As an aside, PVC has been historically difficult to recycle. Most PVC is not recycled. My council, for example, only recycles plastic types 1 and 2, and this is fairly common.
Plastic Type 7 - Other, but includes Polycarbonate (with Bisphenol-A)
Imprecise labelling: Plastic Type 7 includes a whole swag of plastic types including acrylic, fibreglass and nylon as well as polycarbonate (the problem plastic).
One of the most common types of Plastic 7 is polycarbonate. And the most common type of polycarbonate is made from Bisphenol-A (BPA).You may have heard of Bisphenol-A, and the unsafe baby bottles. This issue has been in the media a fair bit recently.
Many common big-selling baby bottles are made of polycarbonate - Avent is just one of the big sellers that still sells baby bottles made from polycarbonate made from bisphenol-A.
Bisphenol-A (BPA) has been suspected of being harmful to humans since the 1930s (nearly 80 years!), yet we're still making baby bottles that leach this compound into baby milk.
Bisphenol-A is an endocrine disruptor. What this means to you is that it mimics human hormones, is a likely carcinogen (causes cancer), triggers fat cell activity (causes obesity), and exposure may increase rates of birth defects and infant mortality, among a host of other nasties.
In short, you don't really want to expose yourself to this compound any more than necessary.
Well-known products made of polycarbonate include the Tupperware Rock N Serve series (the bowls, not the lids).
A full list of the types of plastics used in Tupperware products in available here.
Note that most Tupperware products do not use polycarbonate, but some do, and as a safety measure you may choose to avoid these polycarbonate items.
Tupperware has a statement on their bisphenol-A containing polycarbonate products here.
Avent (among other brands) continue to sell polycarbonate baby bottles made from BPA, although they have introduced a new bottle. The new bottle is still made from polycarbonate but has a polyethylene liner. You can read Avent's statement on their bottles here, and an interesting article (dated 2002) about Avent's earlier opinions on the matter, which provides interesting links to a number of studies done that indicate the dangers of BPA here.
On April 18, 2008, Health Canada announced that Bisphenol-A is "toxic to human health".
My family's response to this issue
PVC/Plastic Number 3: My family owned various PVC items, including handbags and shoes (me), clothing (all of us), toys (the children) and other household products.
Since becoming aware of the issues surrounding PVC, we have decided to recycle where possible, and bin the rest. We're not taking any chances. Items that need replacing will be replaced with non-plastic versions were possible, and safer plastic versions where only plastic items exist.
Polycarbonate/Plastic Number 7: My children both used Avent polycarbonate bottles. My husband and I also a variety of polycarbonate products in the house, including re-usable water bottles, Tupperware (Rock N Serve) and other items. At the time I thought all these items were safe - now I'm sure they're not.
So we have got rid of all our polycarbonate items, and any items that appear suspect.
In some instances where no number was marked on the item but the plastic looked like it might be polycarbonate (e.g. kids character drinking cups), we have binned the items. My son (aged 4) is old enough to drink from glass now, and my daughter will drink from Tupperware lidded cups, made from Plastics 4&5, currently recognised as safe.
Future purchases: I intend to stop buying plastic as much as possible generally, and will not buy plastic Numbered 3 & 7 at all. When gifts made from these plastics are given to us, we will return them, with as kind an explanation as possible.
We don't live in a bubble. I'm not Beth Terry, from Fake Plastic Fish, as much as I wish I could be. I have two preschoolers, and the world of preschool is unfortunately also the world of plastic. I can't eliminate all plastic from my life just yet.
But I can draw the line somewhere. Just by being more selective about what I buy, I can reduce my family's exposure to these these dangerous plastics, and make their world - and ours - a little safer.
Links in this post:
- Plastic Identification Codes
- PVC - further information
- Phthalate plasticizers = further information
- Endocrine disruptors - further information
- Vinyloop - PVC recycling information
- Polycarbonates - further information
- Bisphenol-A (BPA) - further information
- Tupperware plastic types - full listing
- Tupperware company statement - Bisphenol-A (BPA)
- Avent company statement on polycarbonate baby bottles and Bisphenol-A (BPA)
- Mindfully.org - Leading baby bottle manufacturer says Bisphenol-A not a danger
- Beth Terry at Fake Plastic Fish.
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Cluttercut - Green simplicity
12 comments:
just wondering it is still okay to use rock and serve stuff not for heatinjg but just stroing other stuff or is just having it dangerous.
Sorry if I sound dumb but I thought it was just to do with heating PC stuff.
What clothing has PVC or do you mean character transfers etc ?
Where do you generally find the number on toys and what exposure is harmful - mouthing it, touching it or just having it in the room or outside ?
When I visited my SIL in June for her baby shower I told her about BPA in baby's bottles and suggested she might want to read up on it. I nearly got my head ripped off and was told Avent was the most popular brand and that of course they would be BPA free.
What would I know, I don't have kids. For the sake of my sanity and life I kept my mouth shut.
I don't know what concerns me more, mt SILs blind acceptance of these products or that companies are allowed to put such harmful things in the products we buy.
It is scary ! To think those products are not more controlled... even for the babies... damn...
Thanks for the info !
Hi Trish - This from the Wikipedia website on polycarbonates:
"More than 100 studies have explored the bioactivity of bisphenol A leachates from polycarbonates. Bisphenol A appeared to be released from polycarbonate animal cages into water at room temperature and that it may have been responsible for enlargement of the reproductive organs of female mice."
The wiki page lists study sources, if you want to follow them for further information.
Regarding PVC, same thing. The leaching of chemicals from the PVC seems to be a hazard even at room temperature. See the "PVC - further information" link I've provided in the web post for details, but I'd call it as a product I now choose to avoid, for myself and especially for my children.
TOYS: A lot of toys just aren't numbered at all. Some of the company websites list further information on their products, but this can be sketchy.
My view on this, regarding my kids (aged 4 (boy) and 2 (girl) is that I'm going to instead focus on them getting toys that are non-plastic, saving for and buying them toys that are more likely to be safe.
So, for example, my kids this Christmas will be getting some old-fashioned board games, a trampoline (wire mesh, with some 4/5 plastics), and gardening tools.
I've found in the past that plastic toys tend to be played with for only a short time anyway, whereas activity toys (e.g. bikes, trampolines, sandpits, ping pong tables, musical instruments, chalk boards, radios/CD players/MP3 players, gardening stuff, books etc.) tends to be much better value for money. Less junk, fewer items, more quality.
Our house has a tonne of plastic toys the kids have been given by doting granparents that the kids never even look at! But they love their bikes, and can't get enough of going to the beach and playing in the sand, growing plants etc.
I'm learning that kids really don't need or want as many toys as they get, and once you wean them off the whole consumer thrill of "getting" you learn that they'd much prefer just being outside running around!
As they get older, we'll focus more on learning stuff (maybe a secondhand computer between them), musical instruments etc. All of which are a lot safer than the latest plastic junk from China.
I think, in the end, you can't do much better than sending your kids outside and building them a rope swing on a tree or a sandpit! That's what I loved as a kid!
I hope this is useful.
Hi Nevyn - People can only listen if they open their ears! I know people the same - it all gets so scary that they'd rather just not know.
I figure, in this case, for us, that we can't avoid all plastics - I have young kids and I'm not in a situation to do that yet, as much as I'd ethically like to do that.
But I CAN try to avoid the dangerous stuff. When I know some types of plastic are safer (e.g. plastics 4/5) than others (3/7), I think it is sensible to avoid the dangerous stuff.
It's rotten that she attacked you, but she may have been scared and stressed. Maybe she's had a LOT of people telling her what to do/buy/use/not use, and it does all get a bit hard after a while (I know!).
You've done what you could, and it was the right thing to do. But in the end, she has to make the choices for her family, whether you know they are the right or wrong ones.
Blessings :-)
Hi Touchatou - Unfortunately legislation is a long way behind safety in some cases. But what upsets me is that we have suspected since the 1930s that polycarbonates were unsafe, and yet we're still using them. And for baby bottles!
Sheesh!
Thanks for visiting! :-D
That is just another scary thing about our society and the rubbish that we consume.
Thank you for the information, I had no idea that it was so prevalent, I will have to get some new baby bottles now.
Hi Bec - The baby bottle issue worried me, because both of my kids DID use unsafe baby bottles. And I didn't know :-(
I do get angry about the fact that unsafe products are still out there on the market. However, although I can't do anything about what my kids used, by informing others I can hopefully help change the tide and be part of the movement to safe products for all our kids.
At the moment, the concensus seems to be that some types of plastic are safe. But I'm wary. If you're particularly concerned, you might want to look into replacing unsafe bottles with glass or stainless steel, to be on the safe side. Both are believed to be 100% safe. Here is a good page to start looking at different brands and options: link.
Oh dear, and I spent so much money on my rock and serve because I thought they were a lifetime investment. Some sources say don't use them, others say they're safe, others say that when tested they don't leach BPA into the food, and they all seem to be reliable sources (govt, universities, etc). Who to believe??
Hi Asmodel - I know exactly how you feel, because I'm in the same situation.
Look at it this way, though - Health Canada wouldn't be making statements that BPA is toxic to human health (see blog post) if there were any doubt in the matter.
I'm selling my Rock N Serves on the secondhand market. I know this sounds dodgy, and maybe it is. But it's that or dump them, which is what I've done with all the other polycarbonate stuff in my house.
At present most people are still in the dark, and Tupperware gets great prices secondhand if it is in great condition (mine is).
And many people, even if they knew the information I have posted, would ignore it or say it is doubtful, just like they did (and in some cases, still do, with asbestos, red meat and even smoking). Hey, there are still climate change deniers out there!
So if you're not in a financial position to dump it, sell it. That way you're at least recouping some of your investment, while you can.
As the information becomes more well-known, the products will lose their value. I am guessing that Tupperware will stop making all polycarbonate items in the very neat future, and take a stance similar to Avent, where they continue to claim that polycarbonate is safe, , but that they have changed their products for other reasons (yeah, right).
But I absolutely am certain that polycarbonate is dangerous, and we shouldn't be using it in contact with food. I am also reading studies that say it continues to leach chemicals into the environment as it breaks down over hundreds of years, affecting all animals in the food chain. Not good.
In summary, I don't think this product is a good one to have in or homes or to be in contact with, and certainly not one to buy. In our society, we can't avoid all plastics, but we can certainly try to avoid this one.
Thanks for commenting. Let me know what you decide, if you can.
Hi Asmodel - Another thought. Tupperware have a lifetime guarantee on their products. You may want to try contacting a salesperson and asking for non-polycarbonate replacements.
If you present them with some links to info on how dangerous the stuff is, they may be happy to exchange your products for similar, non-polycarbonate products, in order to maintain a good customer relationship.
Wish I'd thought of that BEFORE I'd sold my Rock N Serves!
*sigh*
If you do this, please let me know Tupperware's response.
great post- I've been buying anchor's glass containers with BPA free lids... but it does make for heavier lunch bags.
also- whenever I bring a lunch in a plastic container, I bring a plate or bowl to heat it up in. :)
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