Why You Need to Stop Microwaving Your Kids’ Food in Plastic Right Now, According to Doctors

Plastic is far from being the perfect universal material despite how pervasive it has become in today’s world. The use of plastic is linked not only to massive amounts of pollution, but it is also linked with very real health concerns. In a new report, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revealed that some additives found in plastic may harm children’s health and advised the use of alternatives when it comes to preparing and serving food.

The AAP report, issued in late July 2018, exposes growing information about some potentially harmful chemicals in food colorings, preservatives, and packaging materials. According to a growing number of studies, some of the additives can interfere with children’s hormones, growth, and development, and some of them may also increase the risk of childhood obesity.

Some of the chemicals analyzed by the researchers are “indirect” additives which, instead of being put directly into foods, come in contact with them, for example, chemicals from plastic, glues, dyes, paper, cardboard, and coatings used for processing and packaging. Among the additives of most concern, AAP included bisphenols, such as BPA, phthalates, perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs), and perchlorate.

Bisphenols are used to harden plastic containers and line metal cans. They can act like estrogen in the body and can potentially change the timing of puberty, decrease fertility, increase body fat, and affect the nervous and immune systems. Because of those strong concerns, BPA is now banned in baby bottles and sippy cups. Phthalates are additives that make things like plastic and vinyl tubes flexible and may affect male genital development, increase childhood obesity, and contribute to cardiovascular disease. In 2017, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of some phthalates in child-care products. PFCs are used in grease-proof paper and cardboard food packaging. These chemicals have been linked with reduced immunity, low birth weight, lower fertility, and can affect the body in a number of other ways. Even more terrifying, perchlorate, which is added to some dry food packaging to control static electricity, has been found to disrupt thyroid function, early life brain development, and growth.

As APP underlines, children are especially sensitive to potentially harmful chemicals as they grow and develop since they eat and drink more than adults relative to their body weight.

“We need more research to better understand how food additives affect human health,” said Dr. Jennifer Lowry, MD, AAP Council on Environmental Health Chairperson. “Retesting is most important for the chemicals with increasing evidence of risks, but also those with safety data based on outdated testing methods or animal studies.”

The AAP called for “urgently needed reforms” to the food additive regulatory process in the U.S. In the meantime, it recommended some steps that can be taken to limit children’s and adult’s exposures to the chemicals of greatest concern. The steps include:

• Buying and serving more fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables and fewer processed meats, especially during pregnancy.
• Avoid microwaving food and beverages in plastic or putting plastic in the dishwasher, as heat can cause plastics to leak BPA and phthalates.
• Use alternatives to plastic, like glass or stainless steel, when possible.
• Avoid plastics with recycling codes 3 (phthalates), 6 (styrene), and 7 (bisphenols), unless they are labeled as “biobased” or “greenware.”

To learn how to avoid plastics in your kitchen and what alternatives to explore, check out One Green Planet’s #CrushPlastic campaign.

Image source: KathrinPie/Pixabay