Plastics: Water Bottles & Beyond...

Here's a brief overview on the types of plastics that are in use in every area of our lives. Since many are marked with the recycled symbols, it could be your key to finding out whats in your cuboard, refrigerator or toybox:

	Most Common Uses:	Warnings:
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or PETE)	Bottles & Jars: soft drinks, water, juice, ketchup and salad dressing, peanut butter, pickle, jelly and jam jars, detergent and household cleaners. Generally been considered the safest plastic bottle choice and is one of the most commonly recycled plastics	In one Italian study, the amount of DEHP, an endocrine-disrupting phthalate and a probable human carcinogen, in bottled spring water was found to increase after 9 months of storage in a PET bottle.
High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)	Milk and water jugs, juice bottles, yogurt and margarine tubs, cereal box liners, and grocery, trash and retail bags, detergent and shampoo, household cleaners. Colorful Bottles: Look Nalgene bottles with the #2 symbol
Polyvinyl Chloride (V or PVC)	Many toys are PVC Plastic wraps: Cling-wrapped meats, cheeses, and other foods sold in delicatessens. Bottles & Containers: window cleaner, cooking oils, detergent bottles, peanut butter jars and water jugs.	Releases carcinogenic dioxins into the environment through is manufacture and incineration PVC often contains lead, and toxic plasticizers such as phthalates that can migrate into food, water, air and our mouths. Suspected of disrupting hormone functions According to the National Institutes of Health, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), commonly found in PVC, is a suspected human carcinogen.
Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)	Flexible uses: bread and frozen food bags and squeezable bottles, plastic bags and grocery sacks, dry cleaning bags and flexible film packaging.
Polypropylene (PP)	Firmer Plastics: margarine tubs, caps, disks, syrup bottles, yogurt tubs, straws and film packaging
Polystyrene (PS)	Foam & Styrofoam: meat trays, egg cartons, plates, cutlery, carry-out containers and cups, and clear trays	Do not heat or microwave food in PS! Polystyrene can leach styrene, a possible human carcinogen which may also disrupt hormones.
Other (usually Polycarbonate)	Clear Plastic: Baby bottles, microwave ovenware, eating utensils, plastic coating for metal cans Colorful Bottles: Nalgene made from Lexan Includes resins not mentioned above or combinations of plastics.	Many are made with bisphenyl-A (see below) Can leach into food as product ages: washing in hot water and drinking water that's been left sitting in the container for more than 24 hours raises the risk.
BPA bisphenyl-A	A chemical invented in the 1930s in search for synthetic estrogens. Liners & Sealants: Canned goods, soda cans, even organic goods, dental sealants,	Acts as a hormone disruptor. Simulates the action of estrogen when tested in human breast cancer studies. 95% of Americans were found to have BPA in their urine.(1) The most harm is to the unborn or newborn child (1)

Sources:
(1) The Bisphenol-A Debate: A Suspect Chemical in Plastic Bottles and Cans, by Catherine Zandonella, M.P.H www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/bpa