BPA-Free Plastics May Not Be Safe

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From: "Mother Jones Econundrums" <do_not_reply@motherjones.com>
Date: Mar 3, 2014 5:11 AM
Subject: BPA-Free Plastics May Not Be Safe
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ECONUNDRUMS YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL DILEMMAS SOLVED
MOTHER JONES March 3, 2014   THIS WEEK'S ECONUNDRUM BPA-Free Plastics May Not Be Safe Today many plastic products, from sippy cups and blenders to Tupperware containers, are marketed as BPA-free. But recent findings suggest that many of these alternatives share the qualities that make BPA so potentially harmful. Those startling results set off a bitter fight with the $375-billion-a-year plastics industry. The American Chemistry Council, which lobbies for plastics makers and has sought to refute the science linking BPA to health problems, has teamed up with Tennessee-based Eastman Chemical—the maker of Tritan, a widely used plastic marketed as being free of estrogenic activity—in a campaign to discredit the new research. And it launched a PR blitz touting Tritan's safety, targeting the group most vulnerable to synthetic estrogens: families with young children. Eastman's offensive is just the latest in a wide-ranging industry campaign to cast doubt on the potential dangers of plastics in food containers, packaging, and toys—a campaign that closely resembles the methods Big Tobacco used to stifle scientific evidence about the dangers of smoking. Indeed, in many cases, the plastics and chemical industries have relied on the same scientists and consultants who defended Big Tobacco. To read more about the campaign—and its scary consequences for our health—click here. [READ MORE]     MORE ENVIRONMENTAL & HEALTH COVERAGE Bigger Font, Smaller Americans? The FDA's new nutrition labels, explained. [READ MORE] Watch: Dancers Defy Beijing's "Nuclear Winter" Smog Dancing to Pharrell's "Happy" is one way to soothe those toxic PM 2.5 blues. [READ MORE]	MOST ACTIVE DISCUSSION Disney World Cuts Off Boy Scouts Funding, Allegedly Over Anti-Gay Policies Local Scout leader who just lost a grant: "I think I would make the same decision." [READ MORE]     MORE FROM MOJO Gulp: Climate Change May Be Causing a Global Coffee Shortage Ten percent of Brazil’s most productive coffee-growing regions may be fallowed in just a few years. [READ MORE]   ADVERTISEMENT Discover Your Eco-Bra at FaeriesDance.com Comfy Bras, Sexy Bras, Pretty Bras lots of styles to choose from, all without pesticides and chemical finishes. Going green never looked this good.   Become a fan of Econundrums on Facebook.   Read the Blue Marble
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