Plastics?

Wow, talk about cold! We are experiencing one of the coldest days we have had in a long, long time. So, what else is new? The car is leaking antifreeze now. I guess hitting the deer has caused it to spring a leak. Wow, it seems like all I do these days is work on vehicles.

Some of you have been asking me about plastics recently. I’d like to take a moment to respond to a column written by Jim Davidson in the Southern Illinoisan on January 27. In the column, Mr. Davidson quotes Dr. Edward Fujimoto (Castle Hospital) and the information he has been giving regarding the use of plastic in microwaves. According to Dr. Fujimoto, heating plastics in the microwave can emit harmful dioxins that can be absorbed by the fat in the food, and then ingested. Many dioxins are indeed very harmful, and can build up in one’s body. Dioxins have been linked to cancer, so the claim is certainly alarming.

To begin with, this rumor has been circulating for a very long time via forwards in e-mail. A quick search on the internet indicates this to be a full hoax. My honest opinion is that this story really is completely false. Dr. Edward Fujimoto specifically mentions Saran Wrap in his claim. According to SC Johnson, their Saran Wrap is 100% dioxin free. Of course, there are many containers that are not microwavable safe, and Saran wrap should not be allowed to come in contact with your food while you are heating it in the microwave, but that has nothing to do with dioxins (it melts and then you get plastic in your food.. Yuck!). If a container is not microwave safe, it can melt, which may in fact cause the fusion of chemicals into your food. Whether or not those chemicals are, in fact, dioxins seems to be up for debate.

That being said, there really does seem to be something that is causing more cancer in people these days. Maybe we are just better at diagnosing it, but I think it is something else. Could plastics be the culprit? I doubt it, but who knows? It could be any one of a number of things.