Plastic Problematic
Plastic. It's quite literally everywhere. We don't give much thought to it because it's perceived as being completely outside of us, it's external - This keyboard, that cup holder, those pens, the grocery bags.
But what happens when plastic has an unintended affect on our health once its chemical properties enter our bodies in the water we drink, and it become a part of us? Health Canada asked this question and came to a startling conclusion - we became the first country in the world to ban BPA-containing baby bottles in 2008 as a result of thier findings.
But it was too late. BPA is now everywhere, and it has been found in over 90% of people tested. Since 2008, more studies have outlined the dangers of BPA and where it's coming from.
What's been discovered is that just as hormones are the most potent substance in the human body, so too is BPA because it mimics estrogen - plastics are essentially an unintended hormone therapy; causing damage to our genes which we have only begun to understand.
A drop in a swimming pool is enough to have an effect. This is why baby bottles containing BPA have been banned, because a developing baby or young child is at most risk due to rapid growth and replecation of DNA thanks to hormones - hormones that become distrupted by exposure to BPA.
In adults, the damage is accumulative and builds up within the body. While a baby may be affected accutely, adults can be affected chronically.
There's more to this problem, and it has not been solved. That same plastic that Canada banned for babies can be what your water is being delivered in. Those big blue water jugs (the 50 lb plastic barbells you lift on top of your water cooler) can contain BPA - if it says '7' and "OTHER" by the recycled symbol on the bottom of your jug, chances are high it contains BPA. Not only is it in products we buy, but it has leached into the environment and contaminated every water source tested.
It makes for a sturdy, cheap polycarbonate plastic which water suppliers can make money on by investing very little into the vessel in which they put your drinking water - eventually the cost saved is a cost paid by the customer with the rising rates of chemical induced diseases. Glass doesn't have these health risks, but costs a lot more to buy and to transport due to its weight.
So what is it doing to us?
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SEXUALITY: For starters, BPA (Bisphenol A) is a hormone disruptor. Mimicing estrogen, this lowers men's natural SEX DRIVE. A 2013 Study Linking BPA Found In Plastics To Lower Testosterone Levels discovered the significant statistics in lowered sex drive in men.
HEART DISEASE: A 2011 Study Linking BPA To Cardiac Arrhythmia And Cardiovascular Disease found that increased exposure to BPA affected female heart beat, possibly leading to heart disease.
WEIGHT GAIN: Another 2011 Study Linked BPA To Abdominal Weight Gain
FOOD ALLERGIES: Wonder why celiac disease, gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance, and many other food intolerances are in the news every day? Odds are looking good that an entire generation of people has been exposed to BPA over the past 40 years and this has disrupted how our digestive systems work. A recent 2014 Study Linking BPA To Food Intolerance shows us that if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, there's a high risk your child will develop food allergies if exposed to BPA.
BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES IN KIDS: This article published by NOW Magazine just 3 hours ago, explains that Statistics Canada has been bio-monitoring Canadians for 104 chems of concern since 2007. Its latest survey found that a staggering 93% of kids aged 6 to 11 and 94% aged 12 to 19 had detectable levels of bisphenol A in their urine.
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Not only does it completely eliminate the requirements of water jugs in the home, it also eliminates BPA found in your tap water. It's win/win, and the best part is that getting your own in-home filter will cost you less than bottled water.
More to the story: http://www.webmd.com/children/environmental-exposure-head2toe/bpa?page=2
