You won't find plastic cups in the kitchen cabinets of Kelly Huff's Northside home. Nor does she keep food in plastic storage containers; it's glass for her leftovers. Her toddler daughter and infant son have no plastic toys. And when Huff drinks water, she chugs it from a reusable aluminum thermos.

"Why have them around if you don't have to?" Huff, 30, asks about plastics.

Eradicating plastics from one's life completely would require taking a large leap. Plastics comprise thousands of products in our daily lives.

Increasingly, however, people have begun to question just how safe plastics are, especially when it comes to storing the food and water we ingest. Others say that any plastic panic is unfounded, and that multiple studies have shown the material is perfectly safe.

In recent weeks, the anti-plastics camp has welcomed two reports -- one from the Canadian government and a draft report from the National Institutes of Health's National Toxicology Program -- that acknowledge that a chemical commonly found in plastic may affect the health of fetuses and infants.

Studies suggest that the compound bisphenol A (BPA), which is found in reusable water bottles, the lining of canned goods and baby bottles, could cause neural behavioral changes and affect the mammary and prostate glands. In girls, it could cause earlier puberty. While reports showed no link between BPA and the health of adults, many believe it poses unknown danger.

"This chemical has no place in consumer products that we come in contact with, especially those that contain water or food," says Michael Schade of the Center for Health Environment and Justice, an advocacy group in Virginia.

Another class of chemicals, the phthalates (the "ph" is silent) that are used in plastics, is also coming under scrutiny for its effects on human health.

Much of the research here focused on the health risks to animals in utero or very young children. Still, there's no telling whether risks extend to adults, some caution.

Full Story : http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/LIVING01/805130312/1007/LIVING

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