Study From Norway Shows 90% of People had Plastizicers in Their Body

New data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has shown that 90% of those tested from 2016 to 2017 had plasticizers in their urine. Plasticizers are chemicals used to change the elasticity of plastic in the manufacturing process.

Plastic is in virtually every corner of our world today from the food we eat and the water we drink, our cups and plates, our clothes, and a million other things we use every day.

The study analyzed urine samples from 44 men and 100 women in Norway. Scientists measured three different groups of chemicals, plasticizers, bisphenol, and parabens.

Eight different plasticizers were found in 90% of those tested. Around 50% of people had parabens in their urine, more commonly men than women. Parabens are commonly found in cosmetics and skincare products, likely why they are more common amongst women than men.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Dr. Mercola’s article on this subject covers many different areas where plastics may be present, in everything from your food to your baby’s bottles.

Health issues associated with plastic ingestion are related to their powerful hormone disruption capacity and include feminization of males, miscarriage, infertility and low levels of vitamin D

Eight Different Plasticizers Found in 90% of People

To avoid plastic toxicity or detox from plastics we recommend that you avoid plastic as much as you can. Try to use all-natural fibers, glass bottles, reusable bags, and eat fresh whole foods while drinking cranberry lemonade.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children



New Jersey Single-Use Plastic Ban Will Be the Most Comprehensive in the Country

The New Jersey state legislature has voted to ban single-use plastic bags in all stores and restaurants. This bill also bans the use of single-use polystyrene at restaurants and paper bags at grocery stores and is the most thorough single-use plastic ban in the United States.

This bill is probably the strongest, most comprehensive bill in the nation dealing with plastics and packaging. It will go a long way in our battle with plastic pollution.”

Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club

The bill has been approved in the legislature, and NJ governor Scott Murphy is expected to sign the bill into law.

“The governor is proud to support the strongest bag ban in the nation. This bill will significantly reduce the harm that these products cause to our environment.”

Mahen Gunaratna, Governor Murphy’s communications director

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Plastics companies took advantage of the coronavirus earlier in the year to put holds on several plastic bag bans. Many municipalities, even in California, chose to instead ban reusable bags. Some states (Florida, cough, cough) even have laws prohibiting the ban of single-use plastics bags.

Many opponents of the bill claim that this ban will put businesses at a disadvantage, but at this point, there is no excuse for continuing to use single-use plastic bags. Eco-friendly bag options are widely available. The average American family takes home an average of 1,500 plastic bags each year, and only 1% of those bags end up recycled. These bags stay in landfills for centuries, breaking down into microplastics and releasing endocrine disruptors.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut 

At this point, we are knowingly poisoning our environment and ourselves for grocery store convenience and fossil fuel profits. We shouldn’t have to live this way.




Why Sea Turtles Eat Plastic

Microplastics have been found in every single species of sea turtle, and a new study published in Current Biology suggests that smell could be an explanation for that. Plastics in the water become host to multiple organisms, including plankton. Plankton emit large amounts of dimethyl sulfide, which is an organic compound that a number of marine animals rely on to find food. Sea turtles use their keen sense of smell to locate this compound, and that may be leading the turtles to consume more plastics.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

According to Matthew Savoca, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station and one of the study’s authors…

I’ve heard numerous times that animals just eat plastic because they don’t know any better…What this type of research shows is that there are really complex evolutionary mechanisms that govern how animals are finding food.”

CNN

Scientists previously hypothesized that sea turtles consumed plastics because floating bags resembled jellyfish, but that theory doesn’t account for their consumption of other plastics. These plastics block the turtles’ intestinal tract, negatively impacting digestion, and potentially causing the turtle to go into septic shock.

Recommended: Does Elderberry Increase Risk Of Death With CoVID-19?

Microplastics are a threat to nearly all sea turtle populations, which are listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list – all but one species of sea turtles are listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.

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The European Union To Ban Single-Use Plastics By 2021

European Union lawmakers recently voted 571 to 53 for a complete ban on 10 single-use plastics including plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks, cotton buds straws, cutlery, and coffee stirrers. These plastic products are said to have readily available alternatives. Other plastics not included in the ban were said to have no alternatives available, but will still have to be reduced by 25% in each country by 2025 and will have to be recycled at a rate of 90%. The EU recycles only a quarter of the plastic waste it produces yearly.

The rules also state that at least 50% of lost or abandoned fishing gear containing plastic is retrieved. Fishing gear accounts for 27% of the waste found on Europe’s beaches.

Amendments were tacked on for cigarette filters. Cigarette manufacturers will have to reduce their plastic waste by 50% by 2025 and 80% by 2030.

We have adopted the most ambitious legislation against single-use plastics. It is up to us now to stay the course in the upcoming negotiations with the Council, due to start as early as November. Today’s vote paves the way to a forthcoming and ambitious directive. It is essential in order to protect the marine environment and reduce the costs of environmental damage attributed to plastic pollution in Europe, estimated at 22 billion euros by 2030.” – Frédérique Ries

The EU’s final rules still need to be approved in talks with member states. Some of the states are indicating resistance, stating that it would be too difficult to implement the changes.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors
Image credit: Single-use plastics: are you #ReadyToChange?



New York Bill Would Ban BPA Replacements in Children’s Products

BPA was banned from children’s products in 2010. Now the New York Assembly is attempting to ban the chemicals brought in to replace BPA. The newly proposed ban would expand the number of bisphenols prohibited in children’s items from one to seven, now including bisphenol AF (BPAF), bisphenol Z (BPZ), bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol F (BPF), bisphenol AP (BPAP), and bisphenol B (BPB). Used to harden plastics, these chemicals have been shown in recent studies to exhibit the same or higher levels estrogenic risks as the already eliminated BPA. Michael Antoniou, a researcher at the Gene Expression and Therapy Group at King’s College London and senior author of a study on BPA alternatives, says,

Industry is working to replace BPA because of health concerns – but all these alternatives are also estrogenic…The plastics manufacturing industry have turned to alternative bisphenols to produce their ‘BPA-free’ products, often with little toxicology testing…”

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

BPA and Hormones

BPA and its alternatives are frequently found in receipts, the lining of canned foods, and containers for food storage like water bottles. BPA has been linked to inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, breast and prostate cancer, and asthma, but it is most well-known for disrupting the endocrine system.

These chemicals do this by mimicking estrogen. They promote the growth of breast cancer cells. Researchers found that BFAP, BPB, and BPZ are better at mimicking estrogen than BPA. This leads to an increased activation of cancer genes in cells, especially cancers with a hormonal component to them. The people primarily affected by this proposed bill (young children) are more likely to develop breast, prostate, and testicular cancer later in life. Studies have also found higher levels of BPA to be a risk factor in early puberty and hormonal development.

Related: Microplastics In Tap Water and Beer Around the Great Lakes, and Everywhere Else

Part of You

More than ninety percent of Americans have bisphenols in our bodies. BPA and other endocrine disruptors are very stable and usually stay in the body for long periods of time. This begs the question, how do you get bisphenols out of the body?

You can’t avoid plastics in our modern world, but reducing plastic usage is a step in the right direction. Look for glass, metal, fabric, or other options whenever possible. Canned foods are another frequent source of these chemicals, so read the label on canned goods carefully, and look to see if the company mentions what the liner is made of. If it says specefically that it is BPA free that means it could be using other bisphenols. Invest in reusable, metal versions of items like razors to limit plastic exposure (better for us and the environment). Find a water filter that eliminates bisphenols from your water (we like the Berkey).

These tweaks limit your exposure to bisphenols, but if you live in the modern world you have to detoxify bisphenols from the body with a proper diet. This means eating lots of raw vegetables and having internal organs, especially the gut, in good working order. Check out How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors.

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Seattle Becomes First Major U.S. City to Ban Straws

On July 1st, Seattle became the first major U.S. city to ban plastic straws and utensils. In 2008 an ordinance was passed that banned any one-time-use food-service items that aren’t recyclable or compostable, but the city made an exception for straws and utensils. Back then, biodegradable utensils and straws weren’t widely available. The exemption ended on June 30, and businesses can be fined $250 if they don’t comply.

Image credit: David Suzuki: Straws Suck

Our shoes, our clothing, our contact lenses, chewing gum, food containers, and so much more – all made of plastic. It’s in our salt, our food, and it’s in our water. Plastic may be the most insidious and enduring product we’ve ever produced. It is suffocating our planet and causing catastrophic pollution, much of it hidden and microscopic.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Here’s a video about a whale dying from eating a plastic DVD case. Here’s a sea turtle with a straw stuck up its nose. Also, check out the documentary, Plastic Ocean.

People in the U.S. discard an estimated 500 million straws every day. Since Seattle has taken a stand against this completely unnecessary plastic waste hopefully others will follow suit.

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Microplastics In Tap Water and Beer Around the Great Lakes, and Everywhere Else

A new study sampled twelve different beers in the Great Lakes area and found all to be contaminated with microplastics. Researchers also surveyed tap water from the same region and found microplastics in eight of the nine samples as well.

The study was published in the online journal PLOS ONE last month. Most microplastics discovered were 5 millimeters in length or shorter, according to the researchers. For reference, a penny is 19 millimeters in diameter.

Related: Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics, According To Damning New Study

The study was led by UMN School of Public Health graduate student Mary Kosuth. Sherri Mason, of the State University of New York at Fredonia, is a revered expert in microplastics contamination. She assisted with the study. UMN School of Public Health associate professor Betsy Wattenberg oversaw the study.

Wattenberg found it interesting that the amount of plastic in the beer samples did not coincide with the amount of plastic found in the tap water used to make the beer.

The amount of microplastics detected in the beer didn’t necessarily match the amount of microplastics detected in the water that was used to make the beer. And that sort of suggests that the plastics can be introduced at different steps in the process of making the beer.” – Wattenberg

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

The same team also collected 159 tap water samples from 14 countries and discovered that 81% of the samples tested also had microplastic contamination.

I think what was surprising was the widespread contamination, that the contamination was detected in tap water throughout the world in many sources of tap water from both urban sources and rural sources, in both developing countries and developed countries,” – Betsy Wattenberg told Wisconsin Public Radio.

There was also a German beer study from 2014 that found microplastics in all 24 brands of beer analyzed.