I find it quite amazing how long some studies take to get a reaction from the masses. Take the BPA (Bisphenol-A) scare recently. A few months ago a report came out that BPA was considered to be a carcinogen. Sure, like everything else…right? Well, yes and no…this one is pretty integrated into many of our lives. What got the media attention was the fact that this chemical is present in most hard plastics, particularly those with the number 7 on the bottom. So where were these chemicals? In our drinking bottles. Here everyone is trying hard to be environmentally friendly and use polycarbonate bottles instead of tossing empties.
What is interesting to me though, is that plastics have been well known to be full of endocrine disruptors for years. It was at least 10-15 years ago that I first read a scientific paper about the subject and the fact that the chemicals had the ability to affect the fertility of human men and acted as an artificial estrogen. It leaches particularly badly when it is heated. There were studies that showed significant effects on invertebrate and lower vertebrate test animals….yet everyone continued to pop their plastic lunch containers in the microwave and blithely go along.
What further bothers me about toxicity studies is that they test compounds in isolation. We are never exposed to just one thing at a time. Our bodies and our health is constantly challenged by an array of compounds, chemicals and potential pathogens at any given time. We really have no idea what they all do when mixed up in the slurry. And that causes me some concern.
I stopped putting plastic in the microwave, bought glass dishes with lids and used those instead (minus the lid in the microwave of course). Cling film used to be used for everything here…that never goes near the microwave anymore either. Actually, don’t use it much at all anymore. It’s just too scary to be honest.
Where else can you find this nasty stuff? Well, the one that shocked me the most was canned foods. You think your foods are just in a tin can right? Wrong! Canned foods (most of them anyway) are lined with the same epoxy based resin that has caused all the fuss. And guess what…canned foods are heated for processing…meaning the residues have already leached into your food before you have opened them.
Canned foods
Most tinned foods also exited our kitchen years ago. Yes, there are still a few exceptions that we just haven’t tried hard enough to find alternatives for…but I’m back looking again.
Specifically, I still need to find alternatives for:
- canned milk
- arguably I could probably get away with reconstituting powdered milk
- pumpkin
- I suppose I could just cook a darned pumpkin, they are in the stores when I make the one pumpkin pie of the year that I bake
- tomatoes
- I could can them myself…I do all my own jams and jellies, why not tomatoes…storage becomes a bit of an issue
- tomato paste
- Found a tube at Gourmet Warehouse. For the amount we use, the cans don’t really matter muc
- tomato sauce
- I have found at least two brands of bottle sauce
- coconut milk
- I have found a powdered brand that seems to work wuite well for my purposes. I usually use it for curry.
- tuna
- That’s a toughie, although we don’t eat it as much as we used to, so maybe we just wouldn’t miss it. Fresh fish is better anyway!
- salmon
Other things we used to buy in cans we either buy frozen, fresh, or I make (applesauce comes to mind)
Other things that have exited our home:
Teflon.
Originally we got rid of this because if overheated it releases toxic gases that can kill birds. Since we live with a parrot…bye bye. Out it went. After we thought about it, we realized that if it was releasing something that could kill a bird at high heat, what was it releasing into the air and the food at cooking temperatures? We decided to get rid of it rather than find out. So we have been without teflon for over 16 years no.
Teflon has been linked to liver and thyroid cancer. I can do without it…a bit of oil in a preheated stainless steel pan works just as well.
Aluminum
Well, it’s not all gone yet, but we are working on this one. It’s an expensive switchover so it will be slower. Aluminum has been linked with Alzheimer’s and, since it already has hit both sides of my family, I choose to rid myself of cookware made of the stuff. Unfortunately, 20 years ago we started to collect Calphalon anodized cookware. Wonderful, even heating, quick heating, and very expensive. And we have LOTS.
So do we just switch to something inexpensive? Oh no! Can’t do that…the other half wants the good stuff…the stuff he says he wanted originally and since he didn’t get it then…he gets it now…. and so we begin to collect and exchange our Calphalon for All Clad. GAH!
Aluminum foil? Well, yes, I still use it currently, but anything you cook in the oven can be cooked in parchment paper equally well. But I suppose it will be around for awhile too.
Plastic bags
Not really from a personal health perspective, more from an environmental health one. There are far too many ending up in landfill so we have switched to using Lee Valley compostible bags and use reusable bags for shopping. I will take a bag at some stores, but only if it paper and I can reuse it several times.
Chemical based cleaners
Again, more of an environmental thing, but they just aren’t; necessary. Somewhere along the line we have been hornswoggled into believing we can’t clean windows and mirrors without products like Windex. There are so many alternatives it’s amazing. Probably the easiest and one that doesn’t streak is water, vinegar, a bit of lemon juice and a drop or ten of dish soap. Then finish the job off with a piece of crumpled newspaper. A job well done!
Fantastic! We used to use this on the shower all the time.No more. Now we use a shower squeegee after every shower to keep the water down, then clean it up once in a while with a natural cleanser like Caldera or Seventh Generation. Still need to figure out an alternative from my kitchen cupboard though….
Nasty toilet bowl cleaners. No more. Banished. We use a natural cleanser (Caldrea) and give it a quick clean every day. Since the cats drink out of it, we figure we should keep it sparkling clean.
Laundry detergents. We will likely switch to an eco-friendly one when we finish up this last bottle of Tide. I need to determine which one though.
It’s not hard to find alternatives, they may cost a bit more, or they may be slightly less convenient, but you can’t put a price on your health.
I was feeling pretty smug this morning. Watched the morning news, Vancouver is under the rain clouds and soggier than a ducks bottom. Merritt is dry and the sun was peering through blue patches in the sky. Not bad. I’m not sure what people do here other than wait for the annual Mountain Music Festival…but at least they have nice weather. The drive to the hatchery was pleasant, broken cloud…looks promising, still thinking about taking the Canyon home instead of the Coquihalla. I prefer the Canyon because it’s at least scenic….of course it will probably be slower than the Coquihalla simply because it is the end of summer, and the road is narrower and the speed limit is lower. But it’s still a more interesting drive.
I can’t speak to the addiction that I know smokers have, except that it’s an expensive one (financially and physiologically). I’ve never smoked in my life, except for all that second hand smoke I’ve inhaled over the years because friends smoked. I’ve never understood the appeal of sucking horrible chemicals into one’s lungs and then sharing them with others as one exhales. I went out with a smoker or two when I was younger…yuck, hated that. They always had this stale smell about them, very unattractive. But whatever, I didn’t break up with anyone over cigarettes, I didn’t abandon friends because they have self-lethal tendencies. The bottom line is that we all make choices, if smokers choose to pollute themselves in such a blatant and unhealthy manner, well, that’s their choice I suppose…but don’t drag the rest of us down with you..OK?