The plastics problem

Jenise, Hi....

With the use of words such as "paranoia" and "hysteria", I have entered into the world of psychology. In light of that, I will say that well you might be correct about many of the things you have proposed and that I in turn may be relying a bit too heavily on the defense mechanism of denial, perhaps simply refusing to see the obvious in order to justify my perceived need for aesthetics over what may be indeed good and/or bad for us.

Deep sigh.......

Best
Rogov

[David M. Bueker]

BPA plastics - gone for me.

Seat belts - 100% of the time, ever since I started driving. I can't imagine not using one.

[Jenise]

Me? I'll continue driving around on local streets without a seatbelt on most of the time because I just hate hate hate wearing one and you know what you can do with your statistics ...

You'd be arrested here. Pete and I have both been in serious car accidents where both of us would be dead but for seatbelts. My accident occurred less than half a mile from home.

Whew--glad you're wiser than I. It's the law here too. And I know I should, and I always belt up when I get on the freeway, but I sure have a hard time making myself do it the rest of the time. I HATE THEM!

Jenise, while you wouldn't be arrested here for not wearing a seat belt, you would certaily be stopped and ticketed. I'm sure you've seen all the signs up in your part of the country and say, "click it or ticket". The PD is tough here in town about that. I am so glad I finally got into the habit of wearing a seatbelt. I finally learned to adjust them from where they are connected to the ceiling so they fit me, a better car helped there. It took awhile for both us to wear them, now I wouldn't go around the corner without the belt secured.

Jenise,

I guess you'll never be a passenger in a car that I drive. If you insist on not buckling up when I'm driving, then you'll get out of the car and walk. I refuse to go through the guilt trip, should we God forbid get into an accident and one of my passengers suffers serious injury because she or he wasn't properly restrained.

-Paul W.

Whew--glad you're wiser than I. It's the law here too. And I know I should, and I always belt up when I get on the freeway, but I sure have a hard time making myself do it the rest of the time. I HATE THEM!

I'm sorry if it sounds like we're all nagging you, Jenise, but it is only because we love you and truly wouldn't want anything to happen to you! But I do respect that we all have to weigh up the risks we choose to take in this life, and no-one else can decide that for us. Hopefully though, we can sway you a little..

Think of it this way, Jenise: cooking meats on a grill allegedly produces carcinogenic compounds in the charred bits. There have been SO MANY news reports about food items that if you obey all the warnings, you'll starve. I figure the odds are stacked against me anyway, so I eat what I want (within reason) and don't worry so much about it. I do microwave at home with waxed paper iso saran wrap or Tupperware & Rubbermaid lids, though.

I have to admit I feel the same way about those odds you mention. That is, it's probably too late and we're toast, and I honestly don't have it in me to be radical about anything. But ignoring the easy stuff is another kind of folly, so the bowls are gonna go--as soon as I finish the last night's leftover spinach out of one for my lunch, that is.

I really do have elevated odds of cancer anyway, for a variety of reasons: numerous sunburns in my youth, both parents died of cancer, the area of northern Georgia where I lived most of my life is a pocket of higher-than-normal cancer rates (carpet has its ugly side).

Still ain't gonna quit charcoaling meat, though. A person has to draw the line somewhere.

Jenise, Hi....

With the use of words such as "paranoia" and "hysteria", I have entered into the world of psychology. In light of that, I will say that well you might be correct about many of the things you have proposed and that I in turn may be relying a bit too heavily on the defense mechanism of denial, perhaps simply refusing to see the obvious in order to justify my perceived need for aesthetics over what may be indeed good and/or bad for us.

Deep sigh.......

Best
Rogov

Rogov, I've noticed that as people get..<cough, cough>...older, they react in one of two ways. They either get very anxious about health issues, and very paranoid, because they're suddenly acutely aware of ageing and are desperately trying to prolong life as long as they can. Or, they think "damn the torpedoes" and live life with joyous abandon. I can't say how I'll be, but I hope it will be the latter!

[Jenise]

Rogov, I've noticed that as people get..<cough, cough>...older, they react in one of two ways. They either get very anxious about health issues, and very paranoid, because they're suddenly acutely aware of ageing and are desperately trying to prolong life as long as they can. Or, they think "damn the torpedoes" and live life with joyous abandon. I can't say how I'll be, but I hope it will be the latter!

There's a third category, Celia: some people get found by certain health issues at a far younger age than others, even the damn the torpedos types, and are quite simply forced to pay closer attention. Nobody who has ever NOT been told they have cancer, or who has not lost both parents to it as is Robert's situation, has any right to call someone who is in those shoes "paranoid".

[Jenise]

Hopefully though, we can sway you a little..

Actually, you can't sway me at all. It's not as if I don't understand the issue or refuse to wear one most of the time. But such is my body and the cars that I own that I have not met a seat belt that does not saw on my neck. I thought about this thread yesterday as I squirmed all the way into town under my fastenings. And what's more, I actually detest straps of all kinds: I don't/won't wear shoes that buckle or tie--when I have to wear whole shoes, I wear slipons (easy on, easy off!) but whenever I can get away with it? Flip flops. Even in the rain and snow. I'm the last person in the room to put on a coat (I fear being too hot more than being too cold, and I don't like being bundled) and I wear vests instead of coats (yay, arms free!) more often.

Hopefully though, we can sway you a little..

Actually, you can't sway me at all. It's not as if I don't understand the issue or refuse to wear one most of the time. But such is my body and the cars that I own that I have not met a seat belt that does not saw on my neck. I thought about this thread yesterday as I squirmed all the way into town under my fastenings. And what's more, I actually detest straps of all kinds: I don't/won't wear shoes that buckle or tie--when I have to wear whole shoes, I wear slipons (easy on, easy off!) but whenever I can get away with it? Flip flops. Even in the rain and snow. I'm the last person in the room to put on a coat (I fear being too hot more than being too cold, and I don't like being bundled) and I wear vests instead of coats (yay, arms free!) more often.

You realize this begs the question of that most hated strap of all for females, the bra strap.

Jenise, Hi...

We are not in disagreement. It is fully clear to me that people with certain problems or impediments in health must take great care in what and how they eat. As an extreme, take the PKU child (phenylketenuria). My use of the term paranoia is aimed entirely at those who overgeneralize and thus fear everything, even to the point at which one must wonder where the marriage between common sense and science fails.

I am all for common sense culinary precautions. Anyone who consumes a pound of bacon three times a week, six eggs daily, a quarter kilo of butter or a pound of steak daily is no less a moron as the person who drinks two bottles of wine daily. As to the microwave oven (of which I have never been an owner), it does seem reasonable to avoid baking/roasting or otherwise cooking in certain materials but the same is true of regular ovens as well. On the other hand, given a healthy person, why avoid the occasional few slices of bacon, the egg done sunny-side up in butter, the grilled steak with its rim of fat? Part of the moral and intelligent life involves and should involve pleasure.

I am, by the way, all for avoiding much of those things said to be edible that are sold in markets - e.g. breakfast cereals with so many additives that you could float the British navy in them; hamburgers made of ostrich or turkey meat because they are said to have less cholesterol; fruit "juices" that contain not a drop of fruit. I am also opposed, not on health grounds but on aesthetic ones to the use of most plastics in the kitchen.

As to advancing age, what Celia says makes good sense. In my own case, however, I can happily report that I have been this way since the age of 15.

Best
Rogov

On the plastics issue - I recently came across this interesting article:

http://www.medicinenet.com/plastic/article.htm

It's very useful if you want to know what those numbers on the bottom of your containers stand for. Chef, some concerns raised there about PET...

Celia

BPA is, among other things, an estrogen analog. This means that it can artificially stimulate some of the biological receptor sites for etrogen hormones. For this reason it's been linked to genetic abnormalities in fish (such as genetic male fish who develop ovaries instead of testes). It's also suspected to be linked to the general trend, over the last 50 years, of reduced male sperm count, and progressively earlier female maturation in humans. And maybe increased risk of breast cancer.

Personally, I think there should be an outright ban on the stuff.

-Paul W.

Me 3.

The car doesn't move until everyone buckles up.

On the plastics issue - I recently came across this interesting article:

http://www.medicinenet.com/plastic/article.htm

It's very useful if you want to know what those numbers on the bottom of your containers stand for. Chef, some concerns raised there about PET...

Celia

Yeah, C, I'm aware there are some issues about PET, too. But, I only use PET for cold water storage.

[Jenise]

Personally, I think there should be an outright ban on the stuff.

-Paul W.

I read just last night that BPA is what makes many of the receipts you receive at retail slick/shiny. The stuff's everywhere in our universe.

BPA is, among other things, an estrogen analog. This means that it can artificially stimulate some of the biological receptor sites for etrogen hormones. For this reason it's been linked to genetic abnormalities in fish (such as genetic male fish who develop ovaries instead of testes). It's also suspected to be linked to the general trend, over the last 50 years, of reduced male sperm count, and progressively earlier female maturation in humans. And maybe increased risk of breast cancer.

Personally, I think there should be an outright ban on the stuff.

Paul,
The problem is that environmental estrogens are everywhere these days. Those polybrominated flame retardents required by law in everything from children's clothing to cribs? Estrogenic. Atrazine, the most popular herbicide among the corn farming community? Estrogenic. The terephthalate esters used as plasticizers in those polymers that don't use BPA for that purpose? Estrogenic. Is BPA any worse than the others? No. Is more easy to get rid of? Not sure about that one, since it's a building block of those ubiquitous polycarbonate resins as well as a plasticizer. As an ideal, I'd love to see all of them disappear tomorrow, but I am not sure how that can be done without a wholesale reversal of many of the technological advances of the past 50 years. Having said that, though, we don't use polycarbonates for eating or drinking vessels or for storage; we buy fresh organic produce from a local farmer; we don't eat canned fruits or vegetables and we filter our tap water. It's what we can do to mitigate exposure, especially for Andrew who is so much more vulnerable than we are.

Mark Lipton

Seat belts - 100% of the time, ever since I started driving. I can't imagine not using one.

If I'm driving, either you wear seat belts or you get out of the car and walk to our destination. It's purely selfish on my part. Should we get into an accident and you get serious injury because you weren't wearing a seat belt--I refuse to get involved in that guilt trip.

-Paul W.

I wear a seat belt everytime I'm in the car except perhaps between the mail box in the clubhouse and my condo or between the gas station, only yards from the entrance to the condos, and my condo. However, I have the same problem as Jenise with the seat belt up around my neck all too frequently. I am shopping for a new car (hope to purchase within the next three months) and will be checking out the adjustability of the seat belt. I blame this problem partly on male automobile designers/engineers who don't sufficiently take into account female dimensions.

Once I was driving a German co-worker back to Darmstadt after a party in Frankfurt, Germany. She refused to put the seat belt on although I requested that she do so. It started snowing on the way back and visibility was poor. I was in a minor fender bender a few blocks from home on the streets of Darmstadt. I had my seat belt on and had only a scraped knee. She had a bump on her forehead and had to be checked out at the German hospital for a possible concussion. Ever since I will insist that passengers belt up.

[Robin Garr]

I wear a seat belt everytime I'm in the car except ...

Am I the only one who has a car that nags me with an irritating piercing beep if I don't buckle up?

I do, anyway. In a life as a news reporter, I've seen way too many dead bodies or maimed live victims at accident scenes in which a seat belt would clearly have let them walk away.