Two years ago I took my then almost one-year-old daughter on our regular jaunt to the pediatrician for her monthly wellness check-up. All was going well until he removed her diaper and then picked up a long Q-tip and used the stick end to pull apart the skin on her “nunnie” (vaginal lips). She screamed and I jumped!
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Well here is the thing,” he said, “you’ve got two choices: either you can go home and rid your house of all the plastic–water bottles, the HUGE delivered drinking water containers, Tupperware, baby bottles, plastic cooking ware, kids cups, sippy cups etc…or I can give you progesterone cream.”
Hormonal cream for menopausal women? “What? She is a baby!” I said.
Very calmly he schooled me. “All this plastic is messing with our hormones, both female and male. Some scientists think that this has to do with the rise in prostrate and breast cancers. Do what you want, you have a choice.”
I took the prescription for the cream, “just in case,” then I went home and got busy searching for info. There wasn’t much out there then. I had to order all glass bottles for her because they weren’t available in stores. I got rid of our Sparkletts deal that delivered water to our house in those plastic containers and used a filtration system in the kitchen instead. One month later on our next visit to the doctor, her vagina was no longer irritated–no need for hormonal cream!
Now there is tons of info about plastics for you all to find out and form your own opinion! Plus BPA-free plastics are available. Spending a bit more on products now is a lot better than spending tons on pills and chemo later, don’t ya think?
Check out these lunch boxes from POPO I just bought for the girls, not only are they made of healthy plastics but the small compartments are super fab for packing lunch!
Here is a bit of the skinny on the plastics that are good and those that ain’t so hot:
The numbers 1,2,4 and 5 are “RELATIVELY” harmless when used with some sense, so don’t heat them (in the microwave or dishwasher).
The BAD numbers are 3,6, and 7 and here is why: Vinyl chloride, the chemical used to make polyvinyl choloride (#3), is a known HUMAN CARCINOGEN (that means it causes CANCER) according to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Polystyrene (#6) can leach styrene, another known human carcinogen, into food NOT just when heated. And Polycarbonate (#7) can release its primary building block, bisphenol A (BPA) which is yet another human carcinogen, into liquids and foods with NO HEATING WHATSOEVER!
Plastic is a CHEMICAL –that means think of it as a liquid, especially when you’re drinking and eating off of it. A liquid that is always seeping.
Lastly there is NO ONE overseeing the labeling of healthy plastics. It’s voluntary…hmmmm?
