The Hazards of Plastics

There was a recent article in Mothering magazine that I found to be very interesting. The article, entitled “Out of the Mouths of Babes” can be read here. It talks about the toxins found in certain plastics, the health problems that they are associated with, and what to buy instead. The article focuses on infants and the many plastic products that they come into contact with.

A study referred to in the article, “Toxic Baby Bottles”, was released by an advocacy group called Environment California and can be read here.

Also, here is a video that shows mothers from the group called Making Our Milk Safe (MOMS) holding a protest to ask Target to phase out PVC from it’s merchandise;

Apparantly their efforts worked, as Target recently announced their plans to phase PVC out of their stores, which you can read about here.

This information has really given me something to think about, and along with all the toy recalls lately, I’ve been thinking about trying to just completely phase plastics out of our lives. Of course, that seems like an impossible task, but I do check the recycle codes now and am trying to get rid of, and not buy any more 3, 6 and 7 plastics, which apparently are the dangerous types. Many plastic things we have don’t give any indication anywhere what type of plastic they are, and now I am left confused as to what types of chemicals we have sitting around our home. It is upsetting that these chemicals are still being used in any products, and especially in children’s products, but I find it hopeful that Target has taken steps to phase some of them out and I hope that other retailers follow suit.