Hey guys, this Top 10 list comes from the producers of the documentary film Tapped the Movie, a critical examination of the bottled water industry:

1. Write to your U.S. Senator now . . . Email your U.S. Senator to voice support for the proposed federal ban on BPA in food and drink containers.

2. Donate to the Breast Cancer Fund.

3. Skip bottled water and use your own unlined stainless steel water bottles. Carefully choose a stainless steel water bottle, and make sure it’s unlined — some metal water bottles contain a plastic liner that may contain BPA.

4. Limit canned foods and beverages. The epoxy liners of metal food and beverage cans most likely contain BPA. Especially avoid canned foods that are acidic (e.g., tomatoes, citrus products, and acidic beverages, like colas) and canned alcoholic beverages, since acids and alcohols can exacerbate the leaching of BPA.

5. Skip the water cooler. Those hard plastic jugs that many companies use to provide their employees and customers with “pure” water are usually made with BPA. Drink filtered tap water instead.

(You can also ask your employer to invest in an eco-friendly bottle-less water cooler for your office.) 

6. Store foods in glass. Just be sure to wash the lids, if made of plastic, by hand and not in the dishwasher.

(Glass bottles are also safer than plastic when it comes to storing beverages, especially acidic beverages like many juices.)

7. Use your own unlined stainless steel travel mug. Heat helps toxins from leach into your beverage. Instead of accepting a polystyrene “to-go” cup for your hot beverage purchases, use a unlined stainless steel travel mug.I use a good ol’ cast iron skillet along with stainless steel cookware!

8. Avoid Cooking in Non-Stick Pans and Eating Foods Packaged with Non-Stick Plastics. Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are carcinogenic chemicals that make materials stain and stick resistant and persist in our bodies long after the packaging from such products like microwave popcorn or pizza is disposed or the non-stick pan is put away.

 (I use a good ol’ cast iron skillet along with stainless steel cookware.)

9. Minimize hard plastics in your kitchen. Hard plastic stirring spoons, pancake flippers, blenders, plastic cutting boards, measuring cups, and colanders regularly come into contact with both food and heat. Replace these items with wooden, metal, or glass alternatives.

10. Join an advocacy group. Food & Water Watch and Environmental Working Group will keep you up-to-date with current research and legislation regarding plastics and food and water safety.

Thanks to the work of people like the folks who produced Tapped the Movie, the bottled water industry is losing ground. One popular bottled water company recently reported a 24 percent loss in annual revenue. Keep up the good work, people!

Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com recently wrote about what he calls the FDA’s “conspiracy of silence to avoid admitting that BPA is dangerous for human health.”

In the article, Adams points out that the FDA has ignored over 100 studies which show that BPA is dangerous. FDA conclusions about the safety of BPA are based on just two studies that were funded by the chemical industry.

“That’s how the FDA operates across the board,” Adams explains. “Ignore all the science you don’t like, and cherry-pick the science you want to believe, even if it’s all been funded by the chemical companies.”

Unfortunately, we Americans are bombarded by dangerous chemicals until they are proven to be dangerous. It seems like chemicals would be banned from use until they are proven safe. However, as Adams points out, such a position would drastically reduce profits for chemical companies.

Thanks to health advocates like Mike Adams, the BPA conspiracy won’t be able to continue for much longer. Too many regular folks are learning about the studies which show that BPA is a dangerous endocrine disruptor associated with cancer, diabetes, developmental problems, and other health problems.

BPA, or bisphenol-A, is a chemical that makes plastics more durable. It can be found in water bottles, baby bottles, aluminum food cans (in the lining), and other food containers, as well as other products like DVDs.

Kelly Wallace from CBS News recently showed that the BPA levels in her blood spiked to five times the average level after she ate a single sandwich made from canned tuna.

Consumer awareness about the dangers of BPA is creating change. For example, many baby bottle manufacturers have stopped using BPA in baby bottles. And many stores now offer BPA-free products.

When it comes to protecting the public from dangerous synthetic chemicals, your choices as a consumer are even more powerful than your choices as a voter. The political process is often slow and cumbersome, but when consumers demand change and speak through their consumer choices, change can occur rapidly.

Here’s how you can help to end the BPA conspiracy:

Stop buying canned food products. Eat fresh food; it’s better for you! You can also buy some products (like marinara sauce) in glass jars instead of cans lined with BPA.

Avoid food that comes in plastic containers. Again, whole foods are better than processed foods. Also, never microwave plastic containers.

Stop drinking bottled water. Plastic water bottles pollute your body and the environment. Instigate change by switching to reusable glass water bottles and stainless steel bottles. (By the Way, Mike Adams recently featured our glass water bottles in his 2010 New Year Health Product Guide!) Avoid aluminum water bottles because they are lined with plastic. For convenient, cost-effective access to healthy, safe water, invest in a home water filter and bottle your own water at home.

Choose glass baby bottles rather than plastic bottles. Even “BPA-free” may be contaminated, and BPA is not the only chemical in plastic. You can buy protective covers for glass baby bottles to keep the glass from breaking.

Replace conventional office water coolers with eco-friendly bottleless water coolers. Bottle-less water coolers provide a never-ending supply of healthy water. By switching to a bottleless office water cooler, you’ll save money and eliminate the need for regular deliveries of plastic water jugs.

Yesterday the Environmental Working Group released the results of a new study which found that 9 out of 10 newborn babies already have bisphenol A (BPA) in their umbilical cord blood. This study has renewed calls for the toxic chemical to be banned. Previous studies have found that 93 percent of Americans have BPA in their blood.

“It’s alarming!” said Janet Gray, director of the Environmental Risks and Breast Cancer project at Vassar College. “What more evidence do we need to act?”

BPA is used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. It’s found in thousands of common products, including plastic water bottles and the lining of nearly all food and beverage cans.

Once in the human body, BPA mimics the hormone estrogen, and it has been linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer, cognitive and behavioral problems, reproductive problems, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and obesity, among other health problems.

Health and safety experts are calling for the chemical to be banned, but so far the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said that it is safe for all uses. The FDA decision was based on just two studies – both of which were paid for by the chemical industry. FDA officials say they’re reviewing their position on BPA.

How to Avoid BPA

• Avoid all foods and beverages that come in cans. The cans are lined with BPA. Buy mostly fresh foods at the grocery store.
• Avoid plastic water bottles. The only safe, non-toxic water bottles are glass water bottles and stainless steel water bottles. Note that aluminum bottles contain plastic inner linings.
• Wondering what you should drink? Invest in a home water filter and drink filtered tap water. It’s 10,000X cheaper than bottled water, and it’s much healthier!
• Never microwave any kind of plastic.
• Avoid using office water coolers with plastic containers. Ask your boss to invest in a bottleless water cooler for your office.

The Independent reports that plastic trash releases toxic chemicals into the ocean as it breaks down.

Speaking about the results of his recent study, Katshuhiko Saido of Nihon University in Japan said, “Plastics in daily use are generally assumed to be quite stable. We found that plastic in the ocean actually decomposes as it is exposed to the rain and sun and other environmental conditions, giving rise to yet another source of global contamination that will continue into the future.

“The present study was conducted to clarify that drift plastic does indeed decompose to give rise to hazardous chemicals in the ocean.”

Plastic garbage, like disposed plastic water bottles, releases dangerous chemicals like bisphenol-A (BPA), which has been shown to disrupt the hormone systems of animals and humans. Styrofoam also releases styrene monomer, which is a known carcinogen.

“This study clearly shows new micro-pollution by compounds generated by plastic decomposition to be taking place out of sight in the ocean. Thus, marine debris plastics in the ocean will certainly give rise to new sources of global contamination that will persist long into the future,” said Saido.

But is plastic pollution in the ocean really a big problem? It’s probably a lot bigger than you might think. There’s an area of ocean in the North Pacific twice the size of Texas that’s permanently covered in plastic! In Japan alone, 150,000 tons of plastic wash ashore each year.

What can we do?

Minimize the use of plastic. Stop buying plastic disposable water bottles! Invest in a home water filter and reusable, non-toxic water bottles like glass bottles and stainless steel bottles.

Tapped, a new documentary from the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car?, explains the true cost of bottled water.

In a review of the film at grist.org, Claire Thompson writes:

I knew bottled water sucks, but I didn’t know it sucks this much. Not only is it a clear waste of resources (only 20 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States are recycled, and far too many of the rest probably end up in the Pacific Garbage Patch), it’s an incredible waste of money for consumers, who pay more than the price of gasoline for water that’s marketed as “pure,” but in reality is largely unregulated, full of harmful toxins like BPA, and far less safe for drinking than free tap water. (In fact, 40 percent of the time, bottled water is nothing but municipal tap water, freed from the government oversight that keeps it safe.)

At tappedthemovie.com, the filmmakers explain how you can take action:

• Buy a water filter.
• Buy a reusable water bottle, like a glass water bottle or stainless steel water bottle.
• Replace your office water cooler with a bottleless water cooler that connects to your water line to provide hot and cold filtered water. It works like a traditional water filter, minus the risk of BPA and other toxins. And your boss will appreciate the fact that filtered tap water is so much cheaper!

At tappedthemovie.com, you can also send messages to Jennifer Aniston and Tom Brady to ask them to stop endorsing Smart Water.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the entire documentary yet, but I hope to see it soon.

Have you seen the film? If so, what did you think?

Can you believe there’s a floating island of plastic garbage twice the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean!?

Last month stephen Colbert interviewed Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times reporter who wrote the article It’s Time to Learn from Frogs. In the article, Kristof explains that waterborne animals are starting to develop bizarre deformities. Frogs, salamanders, and amphibians are sprouting extra legs. Male alligators are developing stunted genitals. And in the Potomac River, male smallmouth bass fish are producing eggs in their testes!

“This column is too depressing for words,” said Colbert when Kristof appeared on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.

“What we’re seeing with all kinds of water animals (that live in the same water that we end up drinking) is that their genitals develop malformations, especially in young males,” said Kristof. “In the Potomac River, the male smallmouth bass (100 percent in some areas) actually are producing eggs. They’re called intersex fish. We’re seeing the same phenomenon with amphibians – with both frogs and salamanders – and also with alligators.”

“Let me be the pollutions advocate for a second here,” said Colbert. “Maybe you’re looking at the dark side of this. Isn’t the brighter side of this that there are still fish in the Potamac River?”

“But we’re also seeing the same phenomenon in humans now, to a lesser extent,” explained Kristof. “Male fetuses now increasingly have some of the same genital malformations. In particular, for example, the proportion of males with undescended testicles has been increasing significantly – 7 percent in the latest study.

“The culprit is a class of chemicals called endocrine disruptors. Essentially they mimic estrogen. and so when a fetus is forming in the first trimester of pregnancy, when males are being differentiated from females, then all this estrogen is rushing in and inhibiting the formation of the males and their genitals.

“It’s coming from a range of sources – from agricultural sources, from pesticides, from herbicides,from industry – the chemicals used to soften plastics, for example. A pregnant woman, for example, who uses soft plastic – women who have more of that chemical in their urine, their babies are significantly more likely to have these deformations in the genitals. Twenty-five percent of American women actually now have a level in their bodies that does raise problems for their offspring.

“We need to get the EPA and the government to begin regulating. So far there is not a single chemical, not a single one of these endocrine disruptors that has been regulated, that has been curbed, because of these effects.

“What we’re seeing in fact is that those areas of the water, for example, of the rivers that have more these endocrine disruptors produce more of these intersex fish and more of these frogs that are producing extra limbs.

“Women who have more of these in their bloodstream and in their urine are more likely to have fetuses that are deformed.”

In another blog post, we reported that 93 precent of Americans have BPA in their bloodstream.

Scary stuff! I’m glad I have a water filter in my kitchen! If you want to regulate the level of toxic chemicals in your water, you have to do it yourself.

Earlier this month, MSNBC reported on an important news story: bottled water is less regulated and often more contaminated than tap water. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) recommend that bottled water companies should disclose the same information provided by municipal water suppliers. Bottled water is regulated by the FDA, while tap water is regulated by the EPA.

“Consumers may not realize that many regulations that apply to municipalities responsible for tap water do not apply to companies that produce bottled water,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.

For example, the FDA has not set regulations for DEHP, a phthalates, but the EPA limits the level of phthalates in water supplies.

A GAO report found that “consumers often believe that bottled water is safer or healthier than tap water.” But that’s usually not the case. Bottled water is often more contaminated than tap water, in terms of chemical and biological pollutants. Plastic bottles can leach dangerous chemicals like BPA and phtalates into the water.

Richard Wiles of the EWG thinks that consumers should know where their water comes from, how it’s treated, and what is found in it. Currently, most bottled water companies do not supply this information, and the FDA does not require them to do so.

“If the municipal tap water systems can tell their customers this information, you would think that bottled water companies that charge 1,000 times more for this water could also let consumers know the same thing,” said Wiles.

Concerned about your water quality? To be safe, invest in a home water filter along with reusable glass bottles or stainless steel bottles that won’t leach poisonous chemicals into your water.

Since our eco-friendly, non-toxic glass water bottles have been so popular, we’ve been searching for the perfect stainless steel water bottles for you. Aquasana finally delivered with their new Aqua Canteen stainless steel water bottle.

Plastic bottles – even the hard plastic water bottles – can leach hormone-disrupting chemicals like BPA into your water.

Aluminum bottles aren’t any better. They must be lined with a chemical coating to prevent aluminum from getting into your water. If you accidentally scratch the inner lining (which is typically made of plastic), aluminum will leach into your water. Aluminum toxicity can cause severe brain damage, including memory loss, speech problems, and Alzheimer’s disease. It can also cause muscle aches and osteoporosis. Scary! Stay away from aluminum bottles! They’re not worth the risk.

Stainless steel is a neutral metal that doesn’t leach. That’s why silverware and cookware are made of stainless steel. These 304 food-grade stainless steel bottles are the safest on the market. Even the lids are made from steel! (Other leading brands have plastic lids.) Your water will always remain healthy in an AquaCanteen stainless steel water bottle.

The reusable Aqua Canteen bottles are dishwasher-safe – and they’re easy on your wallet and the environment.

Did you know that there’s an island of plastic garbage in the Pacific Ocean that’s twice the size of Texas? It’s known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. That’s right, the world’s largest landfill consists of millions of pounds of plastic floating in the ocean near Hawaii. Stop drinking from disposable plastic water bottles! They are polluting our planet as well as your body. Research shows that bottled water is hazardous to your health.

Invest in a non-toxic, reusable water bottle today.

According to The Telegraph, new research at the Harvard School of Public Health found that participants who drank from plastic water bottles showed a 69 percent increase of bisphenol-A (BPA) after just one week. This study proves that plastic containers release BPA into the water, which carries the toxic chemical into the body.

BPA is an endocrine disruptor, meaning that it throws off the natural balances of hormones. It actually mimics the hormone estrogen. BPA has been shown to interfere with reproductive development in animals and possibly humans. It has also been linked to breast cancer, low sperm count, prostate cancer, birth defects, growth problems, ADHD, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

Professor Richard Sharpe, one of Britain’s leading reproductive biologists, says that hormone disruptors are “feminizing” unborn boys and raising their risk of cancer and infertility later in life.

Have you ever wondered what goes into making plastic? A long list of cancer-causing petrochemicals!

To reduce your exposure to BPA, don’t drink or eat from plastic containers. If you want healthy water to go, you don’t have to buy expensive bottled water (because it’s certainly not good for you); instead, invest in a home water filter along with non-toxic glass water bottles.

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.