Get Answers
: Plastics
Are ABS Plastic Toys Safe?
ABS stands for Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. It is made by polymerizing styrene and acrylonitrile in the presence of polybutadiene--15 to 35% acrylonitrile, 5 to 30% butadiene and 40 to 60% styrene. It can be recycled.
Acrylonitrile is a synthetic monomer produced from propylene (from petroleum, natural gas or coal) and ammonia.
Butadiene is a petroleum hydrocarbon obtained from butane gas.
Styrene is commercially obtained from benzene and ethylene from coal.
The MSDS for ABS plastic pipe gives no health effects but warns that if it is burned, the combustion by-products are toxic. It lists acrylonitrile and styrene as hazardous ingredients, but they are present in very small amounts. Since ABS can have varying amounts of each ingredient, the safety of your toy may not be the same as these pipes.
I can't say with certainty how safe or harmful your toy may be. As a rule, I recommend toys made from natural materials over plastics to be on the safe side. There are many natural toys available from websites listed on the Toy page of Debra's List.
Debra :-)
This answer was provided by our friend, Debra Lynn Dadd. Hailed as "The Queen of Green" by the New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a pioneering consumer advocate since 1982, specializing in products and lifestyle choices that are safer for human health and the environment. She is the author of Home Safe Home.
What should I be aware of regarding children’s toys and play areas?
Children deserve safe play spaces. Is your home a toxic playground!
Don’t be fooled by the label, toys can contain toxic materials – the nontoxic label on children’s products is not regulated by the government leaving the manufacturers to decide! Many of the chemicals in children’s toys do not undergo rigorous testing by the government and labels don’t always represent the true hazards of a product. Protect your kids from toxic toys by staying informed.
Plastic toys made with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) can leech harmful toxins like phthalates. Some everyday plastics also contain bisphenol-A. Be wise with plastics and keep an eye out for products that are "bisphenol A-free" and "phthalate-free".
Art supplies can contain hazardous chemicals, such as benzene and toluene; and materials such as asbestos, silica, lead, and cadmium. Read labels for more information on the safety of the product you are using. The immediate effects of exposure can range from headaches or nausea to burns, breathing problems, and damage to other organs. Long-term exposures to the chemicals in art supplies may lead to cancer, reproductive harm, and damage to the brain and nervous system causing memory problems, cognitive difficulties, and attention deficit disorder.
Low-temperature modeling clays also pose a hazard at home. Manufacturers of these brilliantly colored polymer clays sometimes use plasticizers like complex glycol ethers or phthalate ethers (diethylhexyl phthalate or DEHP), which are now known to be animal carcinogens. The ethers are absorbed through the skin and, to a lesser extent, can be inhaled when the clay is fired.
Kids’ makeup kits may contain toxics such as toluene in nail polish. Toluene is flammable, irritates the nose, throat, and eyes and makes the consumer feel dizzy.
Purchase products for school-age children, with consideration toward the least-toxic product.
It is also a good idea to stay informed on the latest toy recalls by adding your email address to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s free email list.
What is the danger to humans of products containing Bisphenol A or BPA?
BPA, a common component in clear plastics, is a hormone-disrupting synthetic estrogen. According to studies, even at very low doses, BPA’s mimicry of estrogen resulted in an array of health maladies including prostate and breast cancer, early onset of puberty, obesity, hyperactivity, lowered sperm count, miscarriage, diabetes, and altered immune system in animal studies. The hormone like chemical could be the reason for overall rates of lower sperm counts, faster onset of puberty, and increased prostate cancer in humans.
Over 150 scientific journals have shown the dangers of small amounts of BPA in lab animals, which is sufficient to show their potential for harm in babies. The Work Group for Safe Markets, a coalition of public health and environmental NGO's, found that 95% of bottles on the market currently contain BPA. All of the brands they tested, Avent, Evenflo, Dr. Brown’s and Disney/First Years, leached between 4.7 – 8.3 parts per billion of BPA and were purchased from major stores across the country.
The full study, “Baby's Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Baby Bottles,” is available to download for free on the website. The Canadian version of the study is available at http://www.toxicnation.ca.
In 2007, a study by the Environment California Research and Policy Center showed that all of the five popular bottle brands they tested leached dangerous levels of BPA. The neural, developmental and reproductive toxin is now shown to leach even more when a hot drink is added. The quantities reached as much as 7.7 parts per billion, while natural human hormones remain active in the body at thousands of times lower than 1 part per billion.
Check out our recommended products section for safer BPA free baby bottles. Safer alternatives include using glass bottles or stainless steel sippy cups. While we recommend avoiding the use of plastic especially for hot foods or drinks, the safest plastic would be marked with the #5.
What products usually contain Bisphenol A or BPA?
BPA is usually found in clear, hard plastics known as polycarbonate. It is used to make baby bottles, Nalgene bottles, water bottles, CDs/DVDs, eyeglasses, dental sealants, and in the lining of food and beverage containers (including infant formula cans and other canned goods). Plastics made with BPA usually have the #7 recycling symbol or the letters “PC”. Plastics marked with the #5 do not contain BPA.
What is Bisphenol A or BPA?
Bisphenol A (BPA), a man made chemical, was discovered to be a synthetic version of the hormone estrogen in 1936. Its proposed usage was for help with difficult pregnancies but was replaced when DES, a similar chemical, was found to be more effective. After being given to millions of women, DES was later banned when it was found to cause serious and rare forms of cancer in daughters of DES pregnancies. Hormone-mimicking BPA, is now used as a building block in the creation of clear hard plastics.
Do you have a suggestion for safe, non-toxic everyday dinnerware?
DEBRA'S ANSWER:
Personally, I stay away from plastic dishware of any kind. I have an assorted collection of dishware and glassware that includes clear glass, handmade pottery, recycled glass, and an old set of Wedgewood china that was given to me as a gift.
Aside from plastic--which is obviously identifiable--the most important thing to watch out for is the lead used in glazes. And it's not just brightly colored dishware from other countries that is a problem--most major manufacturers of dinnerware sold in department stores and home-decorating shops still use lead glazes, without labeling them as such. The federal government prohibits the sale of dinnerware that releases lead in amounts greater than 2,000 ppb which prevents direct cases of lead poisoning, but the state of California requires warning labels on any dishware that releases lead in amounts greater than 224 ppb, to protect against long-term health risks.
I like to purchase dishware from local potters. Many now use lead-free glazes and you can ask them directly if lead-free glaze was used.
The other option is to test a sample of the dishware with a home lead-testing swabs. That way you know for sure.
I've listed some links to websites with safe dinnerware on Debra's List.
And here is a link with a long list of dinnerware brands that meet the California standards. Remember these are not necessarily lead-free, but rather those that meet the California standards.
Environmental Defense has an excellent article on lead in dinnerware that includes phone numbers for some major manufacturers that can tell you about the glazes used on specific patterns. See Lead in China Dishes: A Buyer's Guide.
This answer was provided by our friend, Debra Lynn Dadd. Hailed as "The Queen of Green" by the New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a pioneering consumer advocate since 1982, specializing in products and lifestyle choices that are safer for human health and the environment. She is the author of Home Safe Home.
What are the dangers of plastics?
Plastics pose a considerable health threat as certain types can leech dangerous toxic chemicals such as phthalates and bisphenol-A. The manufacture and disposal of plastics also generates an enormous amount of pollution. It is better if you try to avoid using plastics altogether, but that’s a very difficult thing to do given its pervasive presence in modern society. So, at least try to find plastics numbered 1,2,4 or 5 or bio-based plastics made from plants like corn.
PVC, commonly referred to as vinyl, is the most hazardous plastic on the market. PVC is dangerous to human health and the environment throughout its entire life cycle: at the factory, in our homes, and in the trash. Some chemicals that are released during the PVC life cycle are mercury, dioxins, and phthalates, all of which have been proven to be harmful to human health.
Read the October 2007 USA Today article about plastics.
Are all plastic wraps for food including Ziploc type bags, ordinary sandwich bags, saran wrap, etc. made with PVC? Are there any alternatives to these kinds of products that don't use PVC? What kinds of plastics are safer?
No, not all plastic wraps, baggies, etc. are made of PVC plastic. In general, the commercial wraps (used in delis or supermarkets) are the ones most likely to be made from PVC. There are other wraps made from safer plastics available. There are also plastic containers that are safer. Do not use any plastics to heat up foods in the microwave as this encourages the leeching of toxins.
Next time you shop, check the numbers on the plastic product itself and use our Shopper’s Guide to help you decide what plastics to purchase.
What are phthalates?
Phthalates are a group of hormone-disrupting chemicals commonly found in plastics (especially PVC) as well as in many beauty and personal care products. Pregnant women are the most at-risk, because phthalates can enter the womb and expose the fetus during critical periods of development.
Are Polyurethane Diaper Covers Safe for Babies?
PUL is short for PolyUrethane Laminate, which is a fabric that has been heat-laminated to a layer of polyurethane. Diapers are usually made from laminated cottons, polyester knits, or poly blends.
Polyurethane is a pretty toxic plastic. You can read more about it at www.polyurethane.org. This is an industry-sponsored website. In particular, click on the link for "Hyperreactivity and Other Health Effects of Diisocyanates: Guidelines for Medical Personnel".
This plastic is more toxic than I would want to put next to a baby's tender skin.
Debra :-)
This answer was provided by our friend, Debra Lynn Dadd. Hailed as "The Queen of Green" by the New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a pioneering consumer advocate since 1982, specializing in products and lifestyle choices that are safer for human health and the environment. She is the author of Home Safe Home.
What is Plant-Based Plastic?
Most plastics are made from oil or natural gas. As many of you are aware, some of these plastics can leach risky chemicals and they don’t biodegrade – meaning they will be lingering in our environment, leaching their poisons for many, many generations to come.
5gyres.org, summarizes the problem: “The short-term convenience of using and throwing away plastic products carries a very inconvenient long-term truth. These plastic water bottles, cups, utensils, electronics, toys, and gadgets we dispose of daily are rarely recycled in a closed loop. We currently recover only 5% of the plastics we produce. What happens to the rest of it? Roughly 50% is buried in landfills, some is remade into durable goods, and much of it remains “unaccounted for”, lost in the environment where it ultimately washes out to sea.”
Enter plant-based plastic…
According to the Center for Health and Environmental Justice:
Today, numerous manufacturers are beginning to use or develop plastics made out of renewable materials, such as corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, wheat, rice and sweet potatoes. Plant based plastics (also called bioplastics or biobased plastics) can be produced using several different processes including starch conversion, microbial conversion and genetic modification of plants.
In the U.S., the primary company manufacturing bioplastics is NatureWorks, owned by Cargill. They can produce 300 million pounds a year of a plastic called PLA, or poly lactic acid, that is made from corn grown in Nebraska and Iowa. Starch from the corn is extracted and converted into dextrose (sugar) and then into lactic acid by fermentation. The lactic acid is further refined into pellets that can be made into different end-products. Other companies manufacturing plant based plastics include Dupont, BASF, Eastman, Proctor & Gamble, and Cereplast.
There are many environmental and health benefits to switching to plant-based plastics, but there are also more improvements needed. For example, it would be better to use non-food plants to create plastics. Also, at this time there is very limited recycling options and even though the material is biodegradable, composting it can release greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming. Ideally, in the future PLA will be widely recycled as the product does not lose its integrity no matter how many times it’s recycled.
In addition to Stonyfield’s new multipack yogurt cups, here are some other examples of products using plant based plastics:
- Plastic bags - BioBag
- Water bottles - Biota Water
- Disposable forks and knives - Cereplast
- Wall carpets - Interface
- Cups for smoothies - Mrs. Fields Brands
- Electronics packaging and products - Sony
- Car floormats - Toyota
- Produce packaging - Wal-Mart
- Deli containers - Wild Oats
Is it safe plastic?
PLA is approved by the FDA for use in food packaging. But Stonyfield has gone well beyond legal requirements to uphold their commitment to consumer safety. They hired Pure Strategies, an independent scientific consulting firm, to develop a list of potentially dangerous additives like BPA, phthalates, carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive toxins and endocrine disruptors, and they signed a contract that prohibits their supplier from using them. They also routinely test the plastic to ensure compliance.
Allergic to corn?
You can safely use PLA. The heat used in the process of deriving the starch from corn destroys the immunologically reactive profiilin. Profilin is the chemical that usually causes an allergic reaction and is not found in PLA products.
Note: PLA falls into the #7 (other) category of plastics. You should avoid #7 Polycarbonate (PC) plastic due to BPA leaching, but #7 PLA is safe.
For More Information:
This answer was provided by our fabulous Chief Communications Officer, Janelle. See all of our questions and answers at Get Answers. Do you have a question? Let us know!
Print this page |
Email a friend
