Maybe I’d like to think of my body as a thing of bones, blood, tissue, and water, but as I recently learned, it’s also a thing of plastic, home to an alarming amount of plastic toxins known as bisphenols. It is mainly used to manufacture hard and durable plastics(such as water bottles and takeout containers), bisphenols are often found in the company of phthalates, which are It is used to make more flexible plastics. such as raincoat linings, vinyl boots and packing tape. Both types of chemicals are known to be hormone disruptors and cause numerous health problems. including early puberty, obesity, heart disease, diabetes and changes in liver function, as well as an increased risk of certain cancersparticularly skin, breast, liver and testicles.
I met my load of plastic thanks to Millions of bookmarks, a company that offers a simple mail-in urine test that measures the concentration of both types of chemicals in the sample. The news was reasonably good when it came to phthalates: I’m below the 20th percentile in the category of smaller, low-molecular-weight forms of the chemical, and just above the 50th percentile in the high-molecular-weight form. , I can live with that. . But for bisphenols, it was literally off the charts: in the 100th percentile.for bisphenol A (BPA) one of the most common forms of the chemical. I was in the safest 20th percentile for bisphenol S (BPS)another common way.
If there is any consolation it is that I am not remotely alone. “BPA in particular, as well as phthalates, are found in more than 90% of people tested,” says Jenna Hua, founder and CEO of Million Marker, who is also a dietician and environmental policy scientist. “People are exposed to this exposure day after day.”
Read more: All the Things in Your Home That Could Contain PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’
“If you have a sensitive enough test, you will find these chemicals in everyone,” adds Dr. Christos Symeonides, a pediatrician and senior plastics researcher at the Minderoo Foundationan Australia-based not-for-profit philanthropic organization that helps support the work of Million Marker.
Findings from groups like Million Marker and Minderoo are especially relevant this month, as The United Nations International Negotiating Committee meets in Ottawa, Canada, from April 23 to 29 to draw up provisions for an international agreement that would limit global plastic pollution. Negotiators will refine the rules and guidelines reached in a draft agreement in 2022, with the aim of completing the work at the end of this year.
“These chemicals are everywhere,” says Symeonides. “They are in the atmosphere around us. Even in the lab, when you’re trying to test for them, you have to check for background contamination. “They really are the canaries in the chemical coal mine.”
It’s no surprise that we all have such a high concentration of bisphenols and phthalates in our bodies, as the substances are especially common in products that come into contact with our food, including plastic and foil-lined glasses, bowls, and water bottles. plastic; microwave-safe food containers; single-use straws and utensils; takeaway containers; plastic bags; and cans. They are also found in medications, vitamins, and other supplements, particularly in inactive ingredients such as dyes and time-release coatings. What does not enter our body goes about our bodies, such as fragrances, shampoos, makeup and other personal care products, which can be high in phthalates in particular. Cash receipts also contain phthalates. And if the problem was serious before the pandemic, it got worse afterward, as COVID-19 lockdowns led to a surge in online orders, which meant greater exposure to takeout packaging and adhesives on grocery tape. packaging, as well as laminated cardboard and inflatable plastic filling in the boxes. .
“The combination of some of these very harmful chemicals has a synergistic effect,” says Hua. “We’re not exposed to just one of them at a time.”
My relatively low level of phthalates may be due, in part, to my gender. Beyond soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant, I simply don’t use many personal care products, something that broadly (though certainly not universally) applies to men as a group.
“If you look at women, they tend to have very high exposure because they use a lot of products,” Hua says.
But I suck when it comes to BPA. Almost every item on BPA’s no-fly list is part of my everyday life. I still use plastic straws; I eat all kinds of takeout in all kinds of plastic containers; and I throw leftovers and prepared foods into (supposedly) microwave-safe containers with barely a thought. This is all about ease and convenience; None of this has to do with health and safety. And there’s no easy way out, short of some smart lifestyle changes.
“You can start looking for BPA-free products,” says Hua. “But what they contained is probably being replaced by BPS.”
For the public and even some environmental scientists, the temptation is to compare phthalates and bisphenols to PFAS (short for perfluoroalkylated and polyfluoroalkylated substances), another ubiquitous manufacturing chemical that disrupts the hormonal system. PFAS get the nickname “permanent chemicals” because it’s pretty cute. how long they remain in the blood and environment. In the body, however, the vast majority of phthalates and bisphenols are eliminated quickly, mainly through the urinary system and also through sweat, in just 24 hours.
Read more: The dirty secret of alternative plastics
“The liver attaches an additional molecule to BPA in a process called conjugation,” Symeonides says. “That makes it soluble, which is why it excretes so well.” Phthalates begin to break down in the intestine and are processed by the liver.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that as soon as it is freed from one day’s exposure, it becomes contaminated again the next day. Still, that daily clean slate makes phthalates and bisphenols actionable, Hua says. There’s a multitude of ways limiting your exposure to chemicals (some of which I plan to adopt), including carrying groceries in cloth or brown paper bags; heating food in glass containers in the microwave; limit the use of personal care products and look for products that are BPA- and phthalate-free; avoid products packaged in hard plastic; eat fresh foods prepared at home instead of processed or restaurant products; avoid canned ingredients when cooking; and even ask cashiers for electronic receipts instead of paper.
In the US, the use of BPA and phthalates They are already prohibited in some cases, through a 2008 federal law that prohibits the inclusion of eight types of especially dangerous phthalates in toys and other children’s products. In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also banned BPA in infant formula cans, sippy cups, and baby bottles. Last year, three states (Washington, Michigan and Vermont)prohibited or proposed prohibitions on both classes of chemicals in product packaging.
All of that falls far short of significantly limiting, much less eliminating, substances that are essentially everywhere, which is why the Ottawa conference is so important. He draft agreement would take a series of actions, including demand national and regional reports on plastic pollution; establish financial incentives to limit waste and manufacturing pollution; and propose end-to-end control of plastics, from production, at the beginning of the plastic’s life cycle, to its disposal at the end.
“This is a great opportunity for change,” says Symeonides. “Unless we set rules at the regulatory level, we will not be able to reduce people’s exposure to these chemicals. Not everything depends on you. It depends on the regulators.”