Frequently Asked Questions

www.ourstolenfuture.org/NewScience/oncompounds/bisphenola/bpauses.htm

Until recently, many plastic baby bottles were also made from called polycarbonate. As we noted in the question above, minute amounts of bisphenol-A, which is used in the manufacture of the plastic, tend to leach into the liquid stored in the bottles. When the bottle and the liquid are heated (as in a microwave oven), that leaching effect may be increased.

A  number of independent tests of baby bottles that showed BPA leaching drew drew increasing media attention -- prompting consumers to stop buying the bottles. In response, many retailers took them off their shelves, offering instead glass bottles and those made by a company called Born Free, which uses an alternative BPA-free plastic.

When the federal government released its screening assessment of BPA in April, 2008, the health minister announced he would soon introduce legislation to ban the sale and import of polycarbonate bottles in Canada. He said that the margins of safety were too small to take risks with babies' exposure to BPA, since infants are far more sensitive to the effects of toxic chemicals.

Although most retailers have already pulled polycarbonate baby bottles from their shelves, the legislation will be necessary to make sure that polycarbonate bottles don't show up in discount or other stores.

Glass is still the preferred option for baby bottles and many companies are now offering glass. Various companies, including Adiri, and Born Free offer plastic alternatives such as polyamide and polyethersulphone that claim to be BPA, phthalate and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) free. There hasn't been extensive testing of polyamide and polyethersulphone but both plastics are considered more stable, heat-resistant plastics and are unlikely to leach any toxic chemicals.

Phosphates in detergent and other cleaning products were an important environmental issue in the 1960s, since they were a major factor in the death of many lakes and rivers throughout North America through a process called "eutrophication." That process occurs when high levels of nutrients (in this case phosphorus) in wastewater encourage heavy growth of algae and other aquatic plants. Then, as those plants died, their decomposition uses up the supply of oxygen in the water, effectively suffocating fish populations.

There were efforts in the 1960s and 1970s in both the U.S. and Canada to ban phosphates but no ban was ever introduced. Instead, Environment Canada enacted regulations, now included in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, to limit phosphate content in detergents to 5 per cent by weight. But there are no restrictions on other products.

As a result, many products, notably automatic dishwasher detergents, still include high levels of phosphates as builders in their products, to increase the cleaning power.

Although the measures that were introduced have greatly reduced the problem of eutrophication, it's still a good idea to avoid high phosphate products. Seventh Generation and Nature Clean both offer dishwasher detergents that clean effectively without phosphates.

I'm worried picking up cold germs. Should I be using anti-bacterial soaps regularly?
News stories about E. coli bacteria in food and new strains of flu and cold viruses are a daily event these days. In fact, they’ve made it seem almost imperative that everyone use some form of antiseptic protection, and manufacturers have responded with dozens of anti-bacterial soaps, from bar soaps to body washes to liquid soaps in pump bottles.

Most of the products contain triclosan, a chlorinated compound with the chemical name 5-chloro-2(2,4-dichlorophenoxy) phenol. Triclosan has been used in anti-bacterial scrubs in hospitals for many years and was not considered to have a significant impact because of that limited use. But now, its use by millions of people has raised several concerns about both its impact and toxicity:

• Its widespread use in consumer products at low dilutions could lead to widespread antibiotic resistance. Bacterial resistance to triclosan has been shown in the laboratory;
• As a chlorinated substance, triclosan may be contaminated during manufacture by dioxins, some of which may be carcinogenic;
• Triclosan can react with the chlorine in tap water to form small amounts of chloroform, which is carcinogenic in high exposures;
• Triclosan may react with sunlight in the environment to form dioxins and is not removed from wastewater in treatment plants.

In addition, triclosan is an effective anti-bacterial but it is not considered a virucide. So it is of no value in protecting against colds and flus, which are caused by viruses.

Given all those factors, it doesn’t seem to make sense to use anti-bacterial soaps on a routine basis. In fact, the U.S. Center for Disease Control recommends that handwashing with regular soap and water is the best practice and is effective in preventing contamination and warding off infections.

 

For more information:
Beyond Pesticides report

I want to buy a new mattress and living room furniture but I’m concerned that it might have PBDEs (fire retardant chemicals) in it? Can I get PBDE-free products?

 

Until about five years, manufacturers of foam used in mattresses and upholstered furniture routinely treated the foam with fire retardant chemicals known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs. But if the past few years, biologists have discovered that PBDEs are persistent in the environment and are showing up in the blood and tissue of orcas, grizzly bears and salmon, as well as the breast milk of women. Research into their health effects continues, but they haven been associated with possible damage to the thyroid, impairment of reproductive and immune function. Alarmed over the growing danger, regulators in Europe and several U.S. states have banned two groups of PBDEs. Canada is considering action as well, but hasn’t yet done so.

The good news is that most mattresses made in Canada do not use fire retardants at all. We canvassed the major Canada manufacturers of mattresses and they assured us that fire retardants are now neither required nor used. Major Canadian retail specialists in bedding, such as Sleep Country Canada, have stated that they do not use fire retardant chemicals in their mattresses. Similarly, the main suppliers of foam for bedding and upholstered furniture stated that when they are supplying foam materials for products intended for the Canadian market, fired retardant chemicals aren’t used.

But in some cases, where materials are being supplied for manufacturers serving the entire North American market, fire retardants are used to conform to the fire requirements in such states as California and Maine. The retail giant IKEA was one of the first to request PBDE-free products from suppliers, but because many products are made to supply IKEA stores in both the U.S. and Canada, they’re made with different fire retardants, knows as chlorinated phosphate esters, or TCEP. While not environmentally persistent like PBDEs, they are potentially toxic and the European Union may soon be taking action to regulate them. In the meantime Canadians buying mattresses from IKEA may be getting a fire retardant that they don’t need and probably don’t want.

Some tips in getting a mattress or upholstered furniture:

• Look for a retailer selling products made in Canada for the Canadian market.
• If it’s a larger chain that may be selling products intended for the wider North American market, ask whether the products contain fire retardants. Insist on getting an informed answer. If you don’t, go to a store where you know products were made in Canada to Canadian standards.
• For those willing to spend the extra money, there are also other bedding alternatives, including those with wool and cotton-filled mattresses that are not treated with fire retardants. Companies such as Natura Sleep Products and Obasan are among those whose products can be viewed online.

I’ve heard that polyurethane foam in couches and mattresses can be toxic. Are there alternatives?

Flexible polyurethane foam is one of a number of chemical polymers that came into wide use following Word War II for automotive seats, upholstered furniture and mattresses. It retains its resilience and can be easily cut to shape, making it useful for hundreds of applications.

The basic manufacturing process involves reacting an ingredient called toluene diisocyanate (TDI) with a polyol, an alcohol-based substance that has, in turn, been created by a prior chemical reaction with another ingredient called methyloxirane (also known as propylene oxide).

The problem is that TDI and methyloxirane are both carcinogenic chemicals and workers are exposed to them in the manufacturing process. Both types of TDI used in foam manufacturing are classified as possible human carcinogens (Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Methyloxirane is also a 2B carcinogen according to IARC, and the U.S. National Toxicology program says it is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”

In January, 2008, Health Canada assessed methyloxirane under the Challenge batch of 200 high-priority chemicals and declared it a toxic chemical “that constitutes or may constitute a danger to human life or health.”

Based on lab experiments, TDI poses a risk of nasal cancer for exposed workers. Because it is a respiratory sensitizer, it can cause occupational asthma for workers exposed to it, even at levels listed as “safe” by occupational health agencies.

It’s not expected that consumers will be directly exposed to TDI or methyloxirane in polyurethane furniture or mattresses, although there is evidence that it could cause asthmatic reactions as it breaks down and becomes part of house dust. But because polyurethane poses a fire hazard, fire retardants are often added to meet fire codes, thus adding to the material’s toxicity.

Studies conducted by the polyurethane industry have also shown that polyurethane does not break down in landfills, adding to a long term waste problem.

Recently, some manufacturers have introduced soy-based polyurethane in an effort to address concerns about toxicity and uses of non-renewable petroleum-based polyols. Some retailers have even presented soy-based polyurethane as a “green alternative.”

While it may be greener than conventional polyurethane, it isn’t really an alternative. First, soybean oil can only replace a small percentage of the polyol —typically 5-40 per cent — because higher soy concentrations give the product a strong, vegetable-oil odour, which doesn’t help sell furniture. But even more important that that, carcinogenic TDI is still used to create the final product.

The best alternative to polyurethane in furniture and mattresses is natural latex, which is derived from the rubber tree plant and is a renewable resource. It holds its shape well and latex mattresses can last much longer than polyurethane-based products. Although latex gloves and other direct-contact materials can trigger an allergic reaction in some people, there is nothing in the literature that we have seen to show that latex-padded furniture or mattresses pose any problem, probably because there is no direct contact.

Synthetic latex is also widely used in products and while it is probably better than polyurethane, most is made from a styrene-butadiene polymer. That doesn’t pose a risk to consumers, but workers are exposed to a carcinogen — styrene — in the production process.

For mattresses, wool is also used as a safe, environmentally-preferable alternative to foam. Wool mattresses are harder to come by, but they are available.

Some other things to look for in healthy, environmentally-preferable furniture and mattresses include non-toxic adhesives, upholstery materials that are certified to be heavy-metal free and woods that carry a Forest Stewardship Council certification for good management and sustainable practices.

Some sources of polyurethane-free furniture and mattresses:

Furniture:

GreenRooms, Oakville ON www.greenrooms.ca

Upholstery Arts, Vancouver  www.uphosteryarts.ca

Mattresses:

Good Planet Company, Victoria www.goodplanet.com

Aviva Natural Health, Winnipeg www.aviva.ca

The Mattress & Sleep COmpany, Edmonton www.tmasc.ca

McLeary’s Mattress ad Furniture, Kelowna www.mclearysfurniture.com

Sleeptek, Ottawa www.sleeptek.ca

Soma Beds and Sleep Products, Toronto www.somasleep.ca