Endocrine disruptors, also referred to as endocrine disrupting chemicals, or endocrine disrupting compounds are chemicals that can interfere with your hormonal systems. These disruptions can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental issues. Found in many household and industrial products, endocrine disruptors interfere with the bodies natural elimination proecss which is responsible for development, behavior, fertility, and maintenance of homeostasis.
Microplastic:
These hormones regulate the bodies growth, metabolism sexual development, and function. What are your endocrine glands? This list includes your pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testes, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, hypothalamus, and adrenal glands. Our endocrine system helps to control our overall well-being helping in areas like mental health, weight, and fertility. But there is a way that all of this can be thrown out of wack, by the daily use of our household products like shampoo, lotions, makeup, bottled drinking water, personal care products, and solid. By what? you ask something called endocrine disruptors a chemical that can interfere with our hormone systems. These disruptors can cause cancer, early childhood development, autoimmune disease, depression, and other developmental disorders.
As one of the things I’ve listed as an endocrine disruptor is bottle water, and in recent years BPA has been a huge conversation. Let me pose a question, do you think we are safe drinking water from a plastic bottle? Unfortunately, the answer is, No. Why is that because of something called Microplastics. Microplastics are small broken down pieces of plastic that pollute the environment. How do these small pieces of plastic make its way into our lives, from waste that was not disposed of properly? Microplastics are found in our plastic bags, shampoo bottles, plastic containers, and plastic water bottles that we just throw away and never give a second thought to. There is something else called Microbeads ( tiny plastic ) purposely created to be small to use in makeup, face washes, other cosmetics, and toothpaste. More than often they are made out of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, or nylon, just to name a few, so be on the lookout for these names the next time you are out shopping.
So how does BPA play a roll in all of this? BPA is found in the plastic bottles that we use to drink our water from, the problem is we never asked is this safe? BPA is a compound used in the majority of plastic known for its toxicity, BPA is an endocrine disruptor which means it can disrupt normal hormone function and lead to a slew of dangerous health issues. Bottled water contains more Microplastics than the water in our tap. Bottle water is from our public aquifers and springs, it is filtered but more than often not too well. BPA has been linked to cancer. What about BPA-Free, to make a product BPA free a manufactures often use Bisphenol S as an alternative. This new chemical is structurally the same as BPA and has many of the same properties. So the answer is no we are still not safe even when using a BPA-free product.
Marina Life:
It has also been brought up in recent years about all the plastic that makes its way to the ocean. About three million tons of plastic are produced each year and it is reported that eight million of that is dumped into the sea. That is then broken down into little particles that sea life feeds on, these particles go down as far as 600 feet. The fish is then pulled from the ocean for us to feast on but our sea life is no longer 100% fish but now part fish and part plastic. We are now re-exposed to the same harmful endocrine disruptors through digestion. How can we break this cycle?
Here are the top ways to make a switch and to stay safe:
-Get a stainless steel water bottle
-Buy unwrapped fruit and vegetables
-Test your water
-Buy glass or aluminum canned drinks
-Used stainless steel or glass container
-Avoid plastic cups and utensils
-Keep plastic bottles out of heat ( car truck, garages and other places subject to high heat )
-Use reusable bags for your groceries
-Recycle all plastics
I hope this post has brought some awareness to you about all the plastic we use in our everyday lives. The chemicals in these plastics pose a threat to overall development even effecting our children. The best way to combat this is by adopting a more sustainable life style, opting for glass instead of plastic, using reusable bags, recycling and reading labels. Start using more natural products around the home and in your beauty routine. Make a change that will impact your life, your families lives and the environment, its going to take us all to make a change and our voices to force the big industry to change the way they do things.
References:
Internet search
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html
P/S
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