Bad Plastic: It's Practically Everywhere

It's in everything from baby bottles to coffee makers to CDs, and research is accumulating, as Salon's Elizabeth Grossman puts it, that it's a major health hazard. Bisphenol A is a key ingredient of the lightweight plastics now ubiquitous in consumer products, and it's been variously linked to reproductive health, obesity, cancer and neurological disorders.

The makers of Bisphenol A say there is no known hazard to humans, Grossman reports, but 95% of people tested by the CDC had levels of the chemical high enough to cause abnormalities in animals. And she cites a researcher who says it has adverse effects in "phenomenally small amounts," especially on developing fetuses and babies. Legislation to block the chemical’s sale has been introduced widely.