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| December 13, 2009 |
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/nicholasdkristof/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
What if breast cancer in the United States has less to do with insurance or mammograms and more to do with contaminants in our water or air -- or in certain plastic containers in our kitchens? What if the surge in asthma and childhood leukemia reflect, in part, the poisons we impose upon ourselves?
‘More than 80,000 new chemicals have been developed since World War II, according to the Children’s Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai. Even of the major chemicals, fewer than 20 percent have been tested for toxicity to children.
-- avoid microwaving food in plastic or putting plastics in the dishwasher, because heat may cause chemicals to leach out. --
“safer plastics” - those marked (usually at the bottom of a container) 1, 2, 4 or 5.
--plastics to avoid are those numbered 3, 6 and 7 - my weekend project is to go through containers in our house and toss out 3’s, 6’s and 7’s.’