The problems with plastic go beyond BPA and eco hazards

Plastic water bottle.

(Photo by Sandra Trajkovska/FreeRangeStock.com)

Until recently, I thought the only things I have to worry about with plastic are its effect on the environment and that it might contain bisphenol A (BPA). So when I was shopping for baby products when I was pregnant with my daughter, I made sure to check that everything I bought for her was BPA-free. I didn't know why BPA was bad, but I knew I should avoid it. So I did.

But, just last week a link to a 2014 Mother Jones article called, "The Scary New Evidence on BPA-Free Plastics," came up in my Facebook feed. The article outlines why BPA is bad for your health — it mimics estrogen, which is a vital hormone in the right amounts, but in too big or too small of a dose can negatively effect development of the brain and other organs. Babies (including those in utero) and young children are especially susceptible to the problems of BPA because they're still developing. So, whew! Good thing I avoided that.

The problem, though, according to the article, is that the BPA-free plastics are often made with other synthetic estrogens. All I can do is hope that my daughter didn't have too much when she was most vulnerable. (For a time, we used glass bottles with my daughter, so, thankfully, she wasn't using plastic the whole time.)

Now that my daughter is 6, the baby bottles and sippy cups are long gone. My concern has now shifted to the other plastics in my kitchen, which, up until now, I thought I might as well use. While it's in my cupboard, I thought, at least it's not leaching chemicals into a landfill. But now I'm not so sure. Maybe I shouldn't be reheating foods in plastic containers or serving meals on plastic plates.

Perhaps I should just stick to metal and pottery.