The New York Times reports on a study which shows that chemicals used in plastics may be linked to childhood obesity.

The long-term health study found that obese children have higher levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals called phtalates, which are found in plastic products; oh yes, phthalates cause cancer, too. Other research has confirmed that endocrine disruptor chemicals in plastic, like phthalates and Bisphenol A (BPA), cause mice to become more obese.

A Kanasas Department of Health and Environment study found that 46 out of 80 bottled water samples contain phthalates. These toxic chemicals leach out of the plastic bottles into the water.

When plastic bottles are thrown away (at a rate of about 30 million per day in the U.S.), they end up in landfills, where they leach hormone-disrupting chemicals into the ground water. Ironically, the bottled water industry is polluting our tap water. (Or perhaps it’s not so ironic?)

If you want non-toxic water free from chemicals that will affect your hormones (and those of your children), then you need a home water filter, and you need to store your water in glass water bottles rather than plastic bottles.

Tags: BPA, cancer, environment, phthalates, undefined

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 8:02 am and is filed under Bottled Water, Chemical Contamination, Water and Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.