News tagged with 'Plastics'

A study out of the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University, finds that reusable, cloth grocery bags sometimes harbor dangerous foodborne bacteria such as E. coli and coliform from raw-meat.

BPA exposed factory workers in China experienced a nearly four-fold increased risk of reduced sexual desire, a greater than four-fold increased risk of erection difficulty, and more than seven-fold increased risk of ejaculation difficulty, in this first look at how the plasticizer may be impacting human health.

With help from the Global Institute for Sustainability, Wal-Mart says it wants to soften the impact of chemicals on our bodies and waste on our environment. Tomorrow, the company is expected to announce an electronic indexing system to determine the environmental, social and health impact of products on its shelves. 

Six baby bottle manufacturers will voluntarily agree to take BPA out of their bottles. The plastic component, know to disrupt the endocrine system in children, has been under increasing pressure from lawsuits, consumers and three state Attorneys General. 

The U.S. lags behind the European Union in regulating chemicals dumped into the environment. A new book by the Center for Investigative Reporting, says while the U.S. has registered about 80,000 chemicals for use, the UK requires they be assessed for their potential toxic effects. 

It's been a love-fest between chemical manufacturers and the consumer product market over the last thirty years, dumping flame retardants on everything from children's pajamas to electronic components. Now the Environmental Working Group is finding the chemical in children's blood in alarming concentrations.

A second report on the chemical used in plastic, Bisphenol A, says there is some concern about the exposure to infants and children. Thought to be an endocrine disruptor with a link to health problems, many consumers are already forcing manufacturers to turn to alternatives to plastics and resins and away from the six billion pounds of BPA produced a year.

A suit has been filed against five baby bottle makers who use the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in their products.  The suit, filed by four Ohio parents, claims that the companies knew that bisphenol A was correlated to certain health problems.