Question to cancer sufferers, was your cancer caused by plastics?
The answer is, unfortunately, a "maybe". There are at least a few routes led from that innocent-looking plastics to the evilest of human disease.
DIRECT THREATS 直接致癌
1) Bisphenol A has low acute toxicity, but is an endocrine disruptor - means once it enters your body, it mimics the effect of some human hormones, estrogen in particular. If you do not believe synthetic environmental estrogens cause cancer, you need not worry about BPA, but I bet most people do now.
BPA monomer is the precursor for polycarbonate (PC) type plastics and epoxy resins, and is also used as antioxidant for PVC type plastics.
Examples -
polycarbonate plastics (belong to type 7): drinking glasses, baby bottles, DVDs, eye glasses, headlights, MacBook;
eoxy resins: house paints and coatings, adhesives, circuit boards
The problem with BPA containing plastics is - when such plastics are exposed to hot liquids, bisphenol A monomer leaches out super fast, and its concentration can reach dangerously high. Imagine BPA baby bottle in microwave!
There is a bitter fight going on in the United States, as whether BPA is safe. Needless to say, there are always powerful, wealthy and Bush-chenney-friendly people whose personal wealth will drop significantly if this chemical is to be banned. But for the public, this time both the incompetent & corrupt FDA and these interest groups are losing ground.
In September 2008, the NTP (national toxicology program) finalized their report on bisphenol A, finding "some concern" that infants were at risk; in April 2008, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) introduced legislation that would ban bisphenol A nationally from products for infants. Even the FDA is deep in the poop this time for approving BPA without any independent studies.
2) Phthalates
are called plasticizers, substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility. PVC type of plastics are particularly rigid if not "softened" chemically.
The most widely-used phthalates are the di-2-ethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP), the diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and the diisononyl phthalate (DINP). DEHP is the dominant plasticizer used in PVC, due to its low cost.
Phthalates are not as potent as BPA in terms of endocrine disrupting effect, but in essence they belong to the same category of environmental estrogen. Although less potent, the problem with phthalates is that they are everywhere - your food, your cars (if not the latest model Lexus), your house, your bath, your perfume, shampoo, inks, clothes, baby toys, you name it, and these things accumulate, and are particularly bad for fast-growing babies. Diet is believed to be the main source of DEHP and other phthalates in the general population, however phthalates are usually volatile so you can breath them in easily - remember that new car smell? Yikes!
3) styrene
in organic chemistry, these quite easy reactions -
benzene + ethylene => ethylbenzene => phenylethene (STYRENE) + hydrogen
Besides polystyrene, styrene can also be made into SBR rubber, latex, SIS, S-EB-S, S-DVB, and unsaturated polyesters. These materials are used in rubber, plastic, insulation, fiberglass, pipes, automobile and boat parts, food containers, and carpet backing.
Polystyrene plastic is type 6, it can come as brittle solid plastics, or in foams (thus "styrofoam"), and you probably know most recycling places don't even want it back.
And, yes, styrene does leach from polystyrene plastic or styroform containers into your foods and drinks, especially when heated or come in contact with oily substances, say, chinese restaurant food.
Styrene is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC in France). The U.S. EPA does not have a cancer classification for styrene?!!! Wow, don't fear G-d, but fear republicans.
4) Adipates
Similar to phathalates, adipates are also plasticizers. One of them, DEHA is an ester of 2-ethylhexanol and adipic acid. Its chemical formula is C22H42O4. Other adipates include, Dioctyl adipate, Potassium adipate, Sodium adipate.
DEHA is used as a functional hydraulic fluid, and a component of aircraft lubricants. It is sometimes also used as an ingredient in PVC-based plastic wrap.
Do you always check which plastic wrap is made of which material? I don't. But be aware, this plastic wrap might give you cancer.
DEHA has been demonstrated to induce liver adenomas and carcinomas in mice but not in rats. According to IARC, it is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans (Group 3), suggesting inadequate evidence of human carcinogenicity. EPA said, cannot be reasonably anticipated to cause irreversible chronic health effects.
4) Vinyl chloride
Vinyl chloride CH2=CHCl, is presursor for Poly vinyl chloride (PVC), type 3 plastics. Although vinyl chloride does not leach out from PVC plastics, it is important for you to know just how nasty this thing is.
Vinyl chloride is a know human carcinogen. Even FDA or EPA does not dispute this one. Historically, PVC plant workers tend to die from liver and other cancers in large numbers. The hepatotoxicity of VCM has long been established since the 1930s when the PVC industry was just in its infant stages.
In china there are now many "cancer villages" in 河南, 广东, 四川, 江苏等省. In some worst cases, as high as 10% of some of entire village population are stricken sick or died from cancers, half of them liver cancer, and such villages tend to be the site of some high-profit low or no safety-control 民办 plastic factories that use vinyl chloride monomer as raw material. Go figure, 卫生部.
Two more factors make PVC such an evil material. One is rigidity of PVC without plasticizers so there goes phthalates, adipates, and BPA again; the other, is the C in PVC - chloride or chlorine. We will see the detail of this in next section.
INDIRECT THREAT 间接更致癌
The full name is Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs). They are not purposedly made, but they are byproducts when PVC plastics are made, and even worse, they are also produced in large quantity when PVC plastic trashes are heated, or burned, on purpose, or by accident.
And do you know how many tons of PVC are out there on earth? "PVC world market grew with an average rate of approximately 5% in the last years and will probably reach a volume of 40 MILLION TONS by the year 2016". Do i need to mention WHERE most of this 40 million tons are produced?
How bad are dioxins?
Usually when a chemical is acutely toxic, it tends to be chronically not or less harmful, such is in the case of most organophosphate insecticides - ever heard of 甲胺磷? it was once the most popular suicide liquid in China, but not suicide by cancer. And on the other side, such is the case of BPA as mentioned above, which does not kill you on the spot, but will likely give you cancer dozen years later.
But dioxins are both acutely extremely toxic, and chronically ultimately nasty. In other word, if it does not kill you now, it will kill you years later with cancer, one way or another.
Now you might say, I dont use type 3 PVC plastic for my foods, and I don't burn plastic trash at home, so dioxins are at least not my concern.
Wrong.
Dioxins are here everywhere on earth including north and south poles, and will be around for long long long time. One other nasty fact about dioxins is that they belong to "POPs", persistent organic pollutants, meaning they don't disappear on their own, just like DDT. In fact, entire towns in the US had to be evacuated just because high level of dioxins were discovered.
How do dioxins end up getting into your body? It is called the food chain. First dioxins are in the soils, and waters. Next they go into grasses, and fish; next cows, and bigger fish; next they found way into your belly and polar bear's body fat. Such is "bioaccumulation" and it is like a inverse pyramid, the higher in the food chain, the more your share of the nasty chemical. Therefore, being vegetarian, does cut down level dioxins in your body. Think about it, new years resolution comes handy today.
There was a circulating "Johns Hopkins" email claiming that freezing and microwaving of food in plastic containers cause release dioxins and hence cause cancers - that most likely is untrue, unless you are using PVC type plastic and are heating at extremely high temperature. If the author of that email intended to warn the public of the danger of dioxins, she or he had achieved the opposite, because the chemical and plastic manufacturing industries have now caught her or him lying.
================================
Endnote: If you know any cancer patient, especially younger patient, who don't seem to recall any particular cancer causing life events, tell him of her not to feel bad, neither to blame genetics, after all, it might just be the plastics fault.
The answer is, unfortunately, a "maybe". There are at least a few routes led from that innocent-looking plastics to the evilest of human disease.
DIRECT THREATS 直接致癌
1) Bisphenol A has low acute toxicity, but is an endocrine disruptor - means once it enters your body, it mimics the effect of some human hormones, estrogen in particular. If you do not believe synthetic environmental estrogens cause cancer, you need not worry about BPA, but I bet most people do now.
BPA monomer is the precursor for polycarbonate (PC) type plastics and epoxy resins, and is also used as antioxidant for PVC type plastics.
Examples -
polycarbonate plastics (belong to type 7): drinking glasses, baby bottles, DVDs, eye glasses, headlights, MacBook;
eoxy resins: house paints and coatings, adhesives, circuit boards
The problem with BPA containing plastics is - when such plastics are exposed to hot liquids, bisphenol A monomer leaches out super fast, and its concentration can reach dangerously high. Imagine BPA baby bottle in microwave!
There is a bitter fight going on in the United States, as whether BPA is safe. Needless to say, there are always powerful, wealthy and Bush-chenney-friendly people whose personal wealth will drop significantly if this chemical is to be banned. But for the public, this time both the incompetent & corrupt FDA and these interest groups are losing ground.
In September 2008, the NTP (national toxicology program) finalized their report on bisphenol A, finding "some concern" that infants were at risk; in April 2008, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) introduced legislation that would ban bisphenol A nationally from products for infants. Even the FDA is deep in the poop this time for approving BPA without any independent studies.
2) Phthalates
are called plasticizers, substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility. PVC type of plastics are particularly rigid if not "softened" chemically.
The most widely-used phthalates are the di-2-ethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP), the diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and the diisononyl phthalate (DINP). DEHP is the dominant plasticizer used in PVC, due to its low cost.
Phthalates are not as potent as BPA in terms of endocrine disrupting effect, but in essence they belong to the same category of environmental estrogen. Although less potent, the problem with phthalates is that they are everywhere - your food, your cars (if not the latest model Lexus), your house, your bath, your perfume, shampoo, inks, clothes, baby toys, you name it, and these things accumulate, and are particularly bad for fast-growing babies. Diet is believed to be the main source of DEHP and other phthalates in the general population, however phthalates are usually volatile so you can breath them in easily - remember that new car smell? Yikes!
3) styrene
in organic chemistry, these quite easy reactions -
benzene + ethylene => ethylbenzene => phenylethene (STYRENE) + hydrogen
Besides polystyrene, styrene can also be made into SBR rubber, latex, SIS, S-EB-S, S-DVB, and unsaturated polyesters. These materials are used in rubber, plastic, insulation, fiberglass, pipes, automobile and boat parts, food containers, and carpet backing.
Polystyrene plastic is type 6, it can come as brittle solid plastics, or in foams (thus "styrofoam"), and you probably know most recycling places don't even want it back.
And, yes, styrene does leach from polystyrene plastic or styroform containers into your foods and drinks, especially when heated or come in contact with oily substances, say, chinese restaurant food.
Styrene is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC in France). The U.S. EPA does not have a cancer classification for styrene?!!! Wow, don't fear G-d, but fear republicans.
4) Adipates
Similar to phathalates, adipates are also plasticizers. One of them, DEHA is an ester of 2-ethylhexanol and adipic acid. Its chemical formula is C22H42O4. Other adipates include, Dioctyl adipate, Potassium adipate, Sodium adipate.
DEHA is used as a functional hydraulic fluid, and a component of aircraft lubricants. It is sometimes also used as an ingredient in PVC-based plastic wrap.
Do you always check which plastic wrap is made of which material? I don't. But be aware, this plastic wrap might give you cancer.
DEHA has been demonstrated to induce liver adenomas and carcinomas in mice but not in rats. According to IARC, it is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans (Group 3), suggesting inadequate evidence of human carcinogenicity. EPA said, cannot be reasonably anticipated to cause irreversible chronic health effects.
4) Vinyl chloride
Vinyl chloride CH2=CHCl, is presursor for Poly vinyl chloride (PVC), type 3 plastics. Although vinyl chloride does not leach out from PVC plastics, it is important for you to know just how nasty this thing is.
Vinyl chloride is a know human carcinogen. Even FDA or EPA does not dispute this one. Historically, PVC plant workers tend to die from liver and other cancers in large numbers. The hepatotoxicity of VCM has long been established since the 1930s when the PVC industry was just in its infant stages.
In china there are now many "cancer villages" in 河南, 广东, 四川, 江苏等省. In some worst cases, as high as 10% of some of entire village population are stricken sick or died from cancers, half of them liver cancer, and such villages tend to be the site of some high-profit low or no safety-control 民办 plastic factories that use vinyl chloride monomer as raw material. Go figure, 卫生部.
Two more factors make PVC such an evil material. One is rigidity of PVC without plasticizers so there goes phthalates, adipates, and BPA again; the other, is the C in PVC - chloride or chlorine. We will see the detail of this in next section.
INDIRECT THREAT 间接更致癌
The full name is Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs). They are not purposedly made, but they are byproducts when PVC plastics are made, and even worse, they are also produced in large quantity when PVC plastic trashes are heated, or burned, on purpose, or by accident.
And do you know how many tons of PVC are out there on earth? "PVC world market grew with an average rate of approximately 5% in the last years and will probably reach a volume of 40 MILLION TONS by the year 2016". Do i need to mention WHERE most of this 40 million tons are produced?
How bad are dioxins?
Usually when a chemical is acutely toxic, it tends to be chronically not or less harmful, such is in the case of most organophosphate insecticides - ever heard of 甲胺磷? it was once the most popular suicide liquid in China, but not suicide by cancer. And on the other side, such is the case of BPA as mentioned above, which does not kill you on the spot, but will likely give you cancer dozen years later.
But dioxins are both acutely extremely toxic, and chronically ultimately nasty. In other word, if it does not kill you now, it will kill you years later with cancer, one way or another.
Now you might say, I dont use type 3 PVC plastic for my foods, and I don't burn plastic trash at home, so dioxins are at least not my concern.
Wrong.
Dioxins are here everywhere on earth including north and south poles, and will be around for long long long time. One other nasty fact about dioxins is that they belong to "POPs", persistent organic pollutants, meaning they don't disappear on their own, just like DDT. In fact, entire towns in the US had to be evacuated just because high level of dioxins were discovered.
How do dioxins end up getting into your body? It is called the food chain. First dioxins are in the soils, and waters. Next they go into grasses, and fish; next cows, and bigger fish; next they found way into your belly and polar bear's body fat. Such is "bioaccumulation" and it is like a inverse pyramid, the higher in the food chain, the more your share of the nasty chemical. Therefore, being vegetarian, does cut down level dioxins in your body. Think about it, new years resolution comes handy today.
There was a circulating "Johns Hopkins" email claiming that freezing and microwaving of food in plastic containers cause release dioxins and hence cause cancers - that most likely is untrue, unless you are using PVC type plastic and are heating at extremely high temperature. If the author of that email intended to warn the public of the danger of dioxins, she or he had achieved the opposite, because the chemical and plastic manufacturing industries have now caught her or him lying.
================================
Endnote: If you know any cancer patient, especially younger patient, who don't seem to recall any particular cancer causing life events, tell him of her not to feel bad, neither to blame genetics, after all, it might just be the plastics fault.
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