Consumerist

Posts Tagged “

chemicals

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bpa

BPA Levels Higher In Those With Heart Disease Or Diabetes

Another report measuring the negative effects of bisphenol A (BPA), the chemical found in plastics that Canada has banned and that the U.S. continues to fight over, has been released. Today the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study that found that:

those with the largest amount of BPA in their urine had nearly three times the risk of heart disease and more than twice the risk of diabetes as those who had the lowest levels.

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6:53 PM on Tue Sep 16 2008
By Chris Walters
2,318 views, 26 comments

Latest by TangDrinker: Hmm. BPA is also used as a liner in cans. [organicgrace.com] more »

bpa

Confirmed: BPA Will Harm Your Monkey

The bisphenol-A (BPA) saga continues, this time with a study that tried to replicate the ongoing environmental exposure to BPA that the average American faces, only with monkeys instead of rodents. The Washington Post reports:

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have linked [BPA] to problems with brain function and mood disorders in monkeys—the first time the chemical has been connected to health problems in primates.
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5:29 PM on Thu Sep 4 2008
By Chris Walters
3,427 views, 24 comments

Latest by Claystil: @euleria: hah. @stevejust: if i remember correctly, GAC removes only about 40% of BPA from water. I know it's not more more »

bpa

FDA Declares Bisphenol A Safe

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is the chemical used in various plastic bottles and can linings that Canada recently banned, consumers in Arkansas, California, and Ohio have filed lawsuits over, and Playtex and Nalgene have stopped using. The fear is that it's toxic—studies on animals in Canada have shown that it's damaging, and some tests in the U.S. suggest it's harmful to humans as well. Critics of the anti-BPA movement point out that the human studies rely on super high dosages that never occur in real life, and that making safety decisions based on the general public's fears isn't exactly scientific.

Now—right before California decides whether to ban BPA in children's products—the FDA has revisited its earlier studies and reaffirmed that "the trace amounts of bisphenol A that leach out of food containers are not a threat to infants or adults."

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6:34 PM on Fri Aug 15 2008
By Chris Walters
6,838 views, 66 comments

Latest by Sanveann: @carbonmade: Thanks for pointing that out! Many breastfeeding moms aren't willing or able to stay home full time -- or, more »

air pollutants

That New Shower Curtain Smell Is The Smell Of Chemical Pollutants

A new report says that the smell given off by new vinyl shower curtains is chock-full of dangerous chemicals, reports the Los Angeles Times. Researchers tested PVC curtains purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond, Kmart, Sears, Target, and Wal-Mart, and found that all of them contained "high concentrations" of what's technically known as "bad stuff"—"One of the curtains tested released measurable quantities of as many as 108 volatile organic compounds into the air, some of which persisted for nearly a month." Update: the report is receiving criticism from some medical and science experts, including a spokeswoman for the CPSC. More »

11:57 AM on Fri Jun 13 2008
By Chris Walters
4,385 views, 53 comments

Latest by overbysara: tip: when your vinyl shower curtain gets dirty/nasty, put it in your washing machine (alone) with some bleach and a tiny more »

cleaning

Why Super-Cleaning Microfiber Has Never Caught On In The U.S.

Barbara Flanagan of I.D. Magazine has a fascinating article about microfiber, a cleaning cloth introduced in Europe a decade ago that's never caught on in the U.S., despite its ability to clean all sorts of things without the use of cleaning chemicals—"the product cleans surfaces mechanically, not chemically, by scraping them with microscopic precision." More »

1:14 PM on Mon Jun 2 2008
By Chris Walters
33,371 views, 142 comments

Latest by Overheal: convenient that they dont talk about how much cheaper a microfibre cloth is versus buying chemicals. more »

lawsuits

Woman Sues Playtex Over Bisphenol-A

A woman in Arkansas has filed a federal lawsuit against Playtex Products over their use of BPA in plastic baby bottles, claiming that the company "failed to adequately disclose that its plastic bottle products are formulated using BPA," according to MSNBC. The suit is seeking class action status, which would make it the second BPA-related class action lawsuit after the one in California against Nalge Nunc International (the makers of Nalgene bottles)—although the chemical is still not classified as toxic in the U.S. More »

12:08 PM on Thu May 29 2008
By Chris Walters
2,645 views, 28 comments

Latest by emington: Many unbiased peer-reviewed scientific studies have proven it. Like I said, the lawsuit is stupid to me... But it shouldn't make us more »

health

1 Year Later: Feet Scarred From "Chemical Flip Flops," Walmart Still Not Talking

It's been about a year since Kelly Stiles' feet were (somehow) injured by a $3 pair of Walmart flip flops. In that time, Kelly says her feet haven't fully healed and she still can't wear sandals or flip flops. She says she still has pain where she was injured. More »

6:32 PM on Tue May 6 2008
By Meg Marco
11,442 views, 70 comments

Latest by almk: I still have a pair of these in my closet. I bought them for shower shoes on a backpacking more »

lawsuits

First BPA Class Action Lawsuit Announced!

It begins! A woman in California, no doubt under the expert legal advice of people who only have her best interests at heart, has filed a lawsuit against Nalgene alleging that they "knew, but downplayed risks, that a toxic substance in its popular... plastic sports bottles could leach into the bottles' contents and sicken consumers." The woman says she used Nalgene bottles for herself and her two daughters for years.
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7:34 PM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Chris Walters
5,050 views, 29 comments

Latest by TheSmartMama: It wasn't polycarbonate that was first looked at for synthetic estrogen, but its monomer - BPA. BPA was considered along more »

babies

Get Info On BPA-Free Baby Products Via Text Messaging

If you've got a baby and you're concerned about buying unlabeled products that contain Bisphenol A or BPA—which some studies have indicated may lead to adverse health effects in humans—the website Z Recommends has just launched a free text messaging service that lets you query their database of companies while you're standing in the store. They've also got a printable wallet-card you can carry with you, which serves as both a cheat-sheet for the text service and a quick reference source for major companies. More »

2:48 PM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Chris Walters
1,239 views, 6 comments

Latest by marsneedsrabbits: Z Recs rocks, especially on this issue. I used it's BPA guide to purchase bottles, pacis, and sippy cups and more »

An astroturfing group started by chemical supergiant Monsanto is trying to stop the spread of milk that's free of bovine synthetic growth hormone. They say they're trying to defend farmer's rights but they can't fool us, we know they really just want to make the future safe for large breasts. [NYT]

28 comments