The Disappearing Male [video]

Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by gruseom on Monday November 24, 2008 @01:46PM (#375163)

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/doczone/2008/disappearingmal...

Bisphenol A (found mostly in hard colored plastics) is becoming particularly non grata (update: in Canada) these days.

Edit: according to the article it's also "the de facto lining used in food cans". Wow.

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by pg on Monday November 24, 2008 @02:23PM (#375209)

Sounds like the probem is stuff made out of plastic. Is that a reasonable summary?

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by rshao on Monday November 24, 2008 @02:41PM (#375268)

From what I could tell in the video, bisphenol a's a petroleum derivative that is used to harden polycarbonates. The other one, pthalates (also a petroleum derivative) is used to soften PVC. So technically, not made out of plastic, but used to make plastic.

Edit: Realized I misread your comment. Yes, the problem is with some plastic products, which use these chemicals (but not all, since the video mentioned that one hospital using safe plastic products).

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by gruseom on Monday November 24, 2008 @02:35PM (#375236)

I have the impression it's some plastics but not all. A rule of thumb many people up here use is to avoid plastics with recycling number 6 (polystyrene) or 7 (polycarbonate). These are said to be the worst.

Alex, does the film contain specific recommendations to consumers? (Normally I hate using the word "consumer" to mean "citizen" but in this case it could hardly be more accurate.)

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by Alex3917 on Monday November 24, 2008 @02:55PM (#375297)

I didn't watch the last few min of the film, but here is a good list of things to avoid:

http://www.sailhome.org/Concerns/BodyBurden/Burdens/Phthalat...

Realistically it will be impossible to completely avoid the stuff until it's made illegal.

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by gruseom on Monday November 24, 2008 @03:33PM (#375349)

Given that the list includes water, I'd have to agree!

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by ericb on Monday November 24, 2008 @02:52PM (#375295)

Somewhat--but phthalates are also in cosmetics, carpeting, deodorants, and many other household items.

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by Alex3917 on Monday November 24, 2008 @01:59PM (#375179)

"Bisphenol A (found mostly in hard colored plastics) is becoming particularly non grata these days."

Not in the United States.

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by gruseom on Monday November 24, 2008 @02:23PM (#375207)

Funny, my comment originally said something about Canada and I cut it out for brevity. I'll add it back. (Actually, it's not funny at all. The industry's argument appears to be: "But if we don't poison people, how will we make all those shiny plastic bottles?" With the fallback position: "How about if we just don't poison babies? Will that do?")

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by dhimes on Tuesday November 25, 2008 @07:53AM (#376307)

Some food storage containers, water bottles, and the like are advertising "BPA-free."

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by ericb on Monday November 24, 2008 @02:49PM (#375283)

You left out phthalates, which are also in plastics, but are not the same thing as BPA.

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by ericb on Monday November 24, 2008 @02:47PM (#375277)

Phthalates, which are in products made of PVC plastics (like the pipes) which includes childrens toys but are also found in tons of other things like cosmetics, deodorants, and fragranced products.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is the other major offender. Many companies are at least removing from baby bottles and teethers now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalate

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by Alex3917 on Monday November 24, 2008 @01:50PM (#375166)

Phthalates and bpa.

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by Tichy on Monday November 24, 2008 @02:33PM (#375231)

Didn't watch the video, but I have also heard bad things about soy, which is also in a lot of processed food.

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Re:The Disappearing Male [video] by gaius on Monday November 24, 2008 @04:14PM (#375406)

Yes, soy protein isoflavones are phytoestrogens. Males should limit soy consumption.

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