Not All Plastics Have BPA

It is wiser to avoid taking in bisphenol A (BPA) through food than wait for a human study that proves it definitely toxic. At the same time, it is also to our advantage as consumers to know which plastics to avoid as food containers simply because it contains BPA, or at least used it in its manufacturing process.

EARLY this year we knew of the piece of legislation—Senate Bill 3121—that Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago submitted for deliberation that aimed to prohibit the use of plastics containing BPA in manufacturing baby products.

But like diseases and drugs, plastics are not created equal. There are plastics that are not manufactured in a way that it becomes likely for them to contain BPA. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) identified these plastics as those “marked with recycle codes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6.” It also noted that since 1957, BPA has been used to manufacture hard plastic food containers such as baby bottles and reusable cups, not to mention the lining of metal food beverage cans, including canned liquid infant formula.

However, even those marked 3 or 5 are not all made with BPA, it disclosed after a study in 2008.

Type 3 Plastic is called the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. Plastics in this group may contain BPA as an antioxidant (mixed in additives) that increases the fluidity of a material during the manufacturing process. It is particularly the case in the so-called “flexible PVC.” BPA is not used in... [READ MORE]

This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 27 June 2012.

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