A new study has been released by Enviromental Health Perspectives that addresses ways to reduce exposure to BPA and DEHP (bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) by changing our dietary shopping practices. Essentially it evaluated exposure contribution by food packaging (canned foods and foods wrapped in plastic) and tested urine levels of BPA and DEHP metabolites before, during, and after “fresh foods” interventions. There were 20 participants in five families who were studied and they were self reported consumers of canned and plastic packaged foods.
The concern with canned food is the BPA lining used by nearly all canned good manufacturing companies. DEHP is a plastic softener that can be found in plastic that wraps food for protection. These chemicals are known to disrupt hormonal systems in the body leading to developmental and reproductive issues, obesity, and even cancers. And aren’t we fortunate that they both make an appearance in a wide variety of food packaging materials? Ugh…
So did the BPA and DEHP metabolite levels in the study participants decrease when they stopped using canned and plastic wrapped foods and switched to fresh foods? The results of study were quite telling. The levels were greatly reduced and would indicate that food packaging is a front runner in exposing us to these chemicals nasties. You are what you eat right? The intervention reduced concentrations of BPA by 66% and DEHP metabolites by 53-56%. Wow!
What we need to extract from this study is that food packaging is a major source of exposure to BPA and DEHP. Also, we CAN do something about it by making dietary adjustments and changing our food selections.
What Can You Do Personally?
- Opt for frozen, dried, jarred, or fresh foods instead of canned foods and beverages. If you do need to buy canned then buy Eden Foods brand, the only known brand to not use BPA. Campbell soup claims to be eliminating it soon as well.
- Buy loose fruits and veggies, not those wrapped in plastic. Bring your own cloth produce bags to carry them.
- Instead of buying bags of trail mix, beans, grains, rice, etc buy these loose and in bulk. Cloth bags or glass jars can be used to hold them.
- If you do buy food wrapped in plastic, like that yummy Smoked Gouda from Whole Foods, unwrap it and store in a glass refrigerator dish instead.
- Buy more fresh foods from the farmer’s market and less processed foods that need extra packaging.
- If you use baby bottles opt for BPA free ones or even better, glass baby bottles.
- Avoid bottled water, even the large 5 gallon containers. Filter your own tap water and fill reusable bottles.
- Sippy cups should be BPA free, like this EIO Glass Sippy Cup we used.
This recent study is a boon for parents because it provides data that shows us we DO in fact have some power here. We can significantly reduce exposure to some of these chemical in ourselves and in our kids by simply being diligent and shopping smarter.
What a beautiful, delicious looking photo!
Hi Tiffany, I first wanted to let you know how much I love and appreciate your blog!!! I read it daily when I can, so thank you and keep up your good work!!!
I was wondering though if the plastic bags that they use to hold pre packaged carrots and potato ect would be included, as we live in country Australia and our choices of where to shop are very limited? And if so, does it help to take the produce out of the plastic at home or is it too late by then? Kind regards, Kellie.
I would still remove them from the plastic. No reason to have them wrapped in your frig if you don’t have to. You could also ask your store what they are wrapped in and see if you can find out what type of plastic it is.
This latest blog of yours is the most helpful post among the rest. This really needs to be a documentary about how it will affect our health on buying goods in plastic nor in cans. If people would stop buying the stuff the “big corporations” would stop mining it. We are the ones to blame here, just like so many other things we really think we have to have that drives a market for something we really don’t need. I don’t buy bottled water, I carry around my own stainless steel bottle and fill it at the filtered tap at home because plastic bottled water can also cause prlem on our health.
While Eden Foods lids are now BPA free, the new can lining contains vinyl. This is according to the company – I’m on their email list and a couple of months ago they sent an email about this. I dont think it is acceptable to trade vinyl for BPA
Just checked to make sure that freezer bags…that I freeze food, breastmilk, etc are bpa according to Saran SC Johnson products don’t contain bpa http://www.saranbrands.com/faq.asp#1 I couldn’t find any info about if they contain DEHP. Have you come across this info in any of your research?
Thanks for sharing this, I had recently read this and decided I need to work more on getting rid of plastic in our home. Great tips, thanks!
Thanks for great tips! It is really helpful.
Your photo at the top is gorgeous-so many colors! I like how you take the study and show us that we, as parents, have some power over the amount of BPA that comes into our lives. We can make educated decisions on behalf of ourselves and our families that will reduce our exposure to some toxic chemicals. Thanks for all the great tips!
My beautiful daughter follows your blog and has sent me your link as I have many of the same interests as you do. (Waving to my daughter) I have been trying to make permanent life-style changes for some time and decreasing the use of plastics has been at the top of my list for some time. One thing that concerns me is that I have a family member who works for a company that has something to do with the plastic linings found in cans. She says that people have made so much fuss about these linings they have begun to change the kind of lining that they use. But, guess what, what they are beginning to use is potentially more harmful than what they were using before. Also, how do you buy frozen vegetables that are not in plastic? It is so hard to get away from all plastics. Even spaghetti has a plastic window.
Love the idea of a cloth veggie bag!
We’re trying to grow mostly our own this summer.
Oh my, I always buy my vegetables in plastic wrappings, thinking it would stay fresher that way. I really wish we had an option of buying fresh produce on regular groceries.
Excellent article . As parent is really important to change our habits and set new ones.