Safety on plastics usage debates - when shall the twain ever meet

Given their popularity in an ever-widening array of applications, plastics are ubiquitous in our lives. From everyday items up to the point when we want to dispose-off food waste into the litter bins, plastics are practically used all the time. Even the keyboards that I am using to type this article is made of plastics.

Imagine our modern living without plastics. Better still, imagine some 'green' or environmental wacko who's so tight-up about not using plastics in their lives entirely. The only place he/she can 'exorcise' him/herself from the 'demon' plastics is to build a tree house in the jungle, and live on 'nuts'.

While this might sound a little far-fetched, there are actually 'green' nerds (in the guise of being sustainable) who thinks humans can actually live in this world without plastics. The only people who had ever thought about living without modern technology in the modern times could rightly be animation legends, William Hanna and Joseph Barbara who created The Flintstones - and their creations can only be materialized on TV screens.

The debates on the pros and cons about plastic usage go a long way, with each end of the divide adamant about their say on its safety or otherwise, especially where food containers is concern. Their 'evidence' and articulation about it can sometimes go into lengthy detail only apt for a PhD dissertation.

Nonetheless, some of the arguments are in the form of warnings which include awareness about which type of plastics that are safe or unsafe. Those which are not were said to be able to leach toxic chemicals known as phthalates and bisphenol A when food or drinks (especially when hot) are served on them.

Experts studying the chemical bisphenol A said they have gathered a growing body of evidence to show the compound, also known as BPA, might damage human health. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials have examined the chemical’s safety, without much evidence showing it’s harm on human health.

While this squabble, which centers around the safeguarding of human health is commendable, the arguments used are more often based on scientific studies done on animals. It is said that animal studies have linked phthalates at high doses to lowered testosterone levels, reduced sperm counts and reproductive defects.

Last year, U.S. government toxicologists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences expressed concern that BPA may hurt development of the prostate and brain. They also recently found "some concern" that BPA, causes neural and behavioral problems if fetuses or young children are exposed. British researchers also produced a study in 2008 that linked high levels of BPA to heart disease, diabetes and liver-enzyme abnormalities.

In an article titled "Growing Evidence of Harmful Effects From Plastics Chemicals", Dr. Robert Carey of the University of Virginia, who is president of the Endocrine Society, presented evidence suggesting that endocrine disruptors do have effects on male and female development, prostate cancer, thyroid disease, cardiovascular disease. But the statement issued by the society admitted the evidence is not yet overwhelming, although it is worrying.

Apparently, there have been very few studies on the actual affects of plastics on humans, particularly over the long term. Animal studies can't always translate, and neither can lab tests that measure extremely high doses. It is clear that much more research needs to be done on a substance that shows up everywhere, based on real world exposure.