Bisphenol A Now In Cans!

I've previously reported on that nasty stuff Bisphenol A (also known as BPA) that poison-mongers like to slip into plastic stuff like baby bottles.

Since I can never remember which number on the bottom of my cereal bowl is supposed to be okay, and which is supposed to consign me and my offspring to a slow, torturous death, I have switched the family to eating everything out of tin cans (well, aluminum).

Bad move.

According to a new study by people in White Coats at Consumer Reports, the

latest tests of canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna, and green beans, have found that almost all of the 19 name-brand foods we tested contain some BPA. The canned organic foods we tested did not always have lower BPA levels than nonorganic brands of similar foods analyzed. We even found the chemical in some products in cans that were labeled "BPA-free."

Now if you can't trust a label on a can, what can you trust???

According to the Civil Eats blog,

Federal guidelines currently put the daily upper limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. But that level is based on a handful of experiments done in the 1980s rather than hundreds of more recent animal and laboratory studies indicating that serious health risks could result from much lower doses of BPA. Several animal studies show adverse effects, such as abnormal reproductive development, at exposures of 2.4 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day, a dose that could be reached by a child eating one or a few servings daily or an adult daily diet that includes multiple servings of canned foods containing BPA levels comparable to some of the foods Consumer Reports tested.

And then

Given the new findings, Consumers Union sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg reiterating its request that the agency act this year to ban the use of BPA in food- and beverage-contact materials. FDA is expected to announce the findings of its most recent reassessment of the safety of BPA by the end of this month. Bills are currently pending in Congress that would ban the use of BPA in all food and beverage containers. Industry has been waging a fight against new regulations, and California Assembly members recently voted not to ban BPA from feeding products for children under three.

Consumer Reports is advising those who are concerned that they might be able to reduce, though not necessarily eliminate, their dietary exposure to BPA by taking the following steps:

Choose fresh food whenever possible.
Consider alternatives to canned food, beverages, juices, and infant formula.
Use glass containers when heating food in microwave ovens.

Wouldn't it just be simpler to lock regulators and lawmakers in a room with nothing to eat nothing but bisphenol-laden food until they ban this stuff?

Your showerhead is spraying you with bacteria

Sometimes it seems that researchers just want to mess with the heads of OCD germaphobes. Case in point: People in White Coats at the University of Colorado at Boulder looked at the gunk inside of showerheads in 45 sites around the United States. They put the showerheads inside a big centrifuge (or whatever it is scientists do) and discovered that every time you shower, you are covering yourself in filth.

It turns out that the showerheads had seven billion microbes per square liter -- or about ten times the number found in tap water. It gets worse. The microbes that the Boulder gunkologists looked at included teeming masses of Mycobacterium avium, which besides having a scary sounding Latin name and being written in italics, can cause respiratory illness.

The good news is that the microbes are harmless if swallowed (like in tap water) unless they are turned into an aerosol mist and inhaled... like, you know, when you're taking a shower (eep! eep! eep!)

Experts recommend the following steps:

* Switch to metal showerheads (the problem only appears in plastic ones).

* Hold your breath for the entire duration of your shower.

* Take baths (the soap scum appears to counteract the evil bacteria).

* Fill your water tanks with Purell.

* Go French and stop bathing altogether.

It's all downhill from here

I was born 39 years ago today. My own beloved Dad was 39 that day.

The above photo was unearthed by one of the middle school classmates that seem to make up about 70% of my Facebook friends today.

And now for today's public service announcement on aging...

According to a couple of people in white coats at the University of Virginia, your brain starts to deteriorate at the age of 27. In a series of cognitive tests on 2,000 healthy people aged 18-60, researchers found that people aged 22 scored the highest, and saw a significant downward spiral into blubbering idiocy starting at age 27. People started doing noticeably more poorly on memory tests starting at age 37.

Did I mention that today is my birthday? Note to self: write about this on the blog.

Obesity Epidemic Strikes Kid-Friendly Burros

In Spanish, the word "burrito" means "little donkey". The town of Oatman, Arizona, is having a different kind of donkey problem. It seems that one of the key attractions in the old mining town is that a lot of donkeys freely roam the streets. And since every kid who walks by can't resist handing out carrots and other goodies, those asses are now getting very fat.

The Bureau of Land Management is stepping in with a campaign to stop the wonton (oops, wanton) feeding of the animals.

Beware of Sandals and Candles

Thinking about a romantic candlelit dinner or a walk on the beach in flip flops? According to the latest research, you might as well just drink a bottle of cyanide and shoot yourself in the head.

Okay, not quite, but here are two worrisome items on candles and flip flops.

Item Numero Uno:

According to people in white coats at South Carolina State University, candles release "harmful fumes linked to lung cancer and asthma."

According to a report from the BBC:

Lead researcher Amid Hamidi said people who frequently used candles, for instance to help them relax in the bath or provide the right ambiance for dinner, were most at risk.

He told the American Chemical Society in Washington: "An occasional paraffin candle and its emissions will not likely affect you.

"But lighting many paraffin candles every day for years or lighting them frequently in an unventilated bathroom around a tub, for example, may cause problems."

The danger seems to result from the fact that the candles don't reach a high enough temperature to burn off the toxins. To avoid dying from candle-induced cancer, researchers recommend "smoking, alcohol, obesity, unhealthy diets, inactivity and heavy sun exposure."

Item Numero Dos:

According to White Coaters from EMSL Analytical in New York City, walking around in flip flops is not only a big fashion faux pas, but will, in all likelihood, kill you faster than several candlelit dinners for two in an enclosed space. At least in NYC.

According to a stolid report from the New York Daily News, "Flip-flops are a magnet for dangerous, deadly bacteria!!!!"

Two reporters wore flip flops around New York, taking subways, buses, and going to Coney Island. They then handed the flip flops to the lab boys, who then put them in a big centrifuge.

"The results? Pretty heinous."

Researchers found thousands of bacteria on the footwear. Sure, they were mostly harmless, but, they note, some came from people's mouths. The researchers speculate that this was a result of the reporters walking where someone had spit on the sidewalk, but then again, we all know how weird New Yorkers are. (I'm just saying).

True, the labsters didn't find anything like Staph aureus, but, they write, they could have. If, you know, you had an open sore on your foot, and, like, you stepped in something gross, and, like, it entered your blood, it could, you know, KILL YOU DEAD!!!

Obviously, if you are going to walk around New York City, you must dispose of your footwear after every outing.

More Scary Things In Your Garden

Worried Dad's garden is doing very well, and if something is going well, then it's time to worry.

Item #1: Tomatoes and Potatoes are Getting Wiped Out

Tomato and potato crops throughout the Northeast US are getting decimated by Late Blight, a fungus that once caused the Irish Potato Famine.

Experts (or "Blightists") say that the fungus made its way to Northern gardens and fields through Big Box gardening centers. The unusually wet temperate weather created a perfect breeding ground for the fungus, which spread quickly as more people have turned to home gardens. Next year, start your tomatoes and potatoes from seed or get your starters from garden centers that buy from local farms.

Item #2: Don't Touch the Pretty Weeds

The next time you're about to tidy up the garden and pull up the weeds, you better be sure that you know the difference between Heracleum sphondylium (a nice ornamental plant known as Common Hogweed) and its evil twin Heracleum mantegazzianum (better known as Giant Hogweed). The latter has been spotted in backyards throughout the Northeast. Touching it "can cause skin sensitivity, burning blisters, and blackened scars if you are exposed to its toxic, watery sap."

Item #3: Plants Can Eat Meat

Intrepid botanists have discovered a hitherto unknown species of giant meat-eating plants in the central Philippines.

According to one of the botanical daredevils, "The plant is among the largest of all carnivorous plant species and produces spectacular traps as large as other species which catch not only insects, but also rodents as large as rats." Or, he might have added, small children.

While this plant was previously not a threat to human civilization, the botanists placed specimens in the herbarium of Palawan State University.

The needles and the damage done -- the trouble with Tamiflu

New reports out of Merry Olde England are showing that half of all children taking the anti-swine flu drug Tamiflu are experiencing side effects such as nausea, insomnia, and nightmares.

The kids were given the drug to prevent them from getting infected after other kids in their kids had been diagnosed with swine flu (H1N1). The people in white coats who conducted the study note that although some of the reported side effects could be due to other illnesses, they were "unlikely to account for all the symptoms experienced".

The full story is here.

My New Favorite Website

Let's Panic About Babies. You might think they're joking, but I'm not so sure.

I really like their sponsors too.

Danger In the Sand

Despite rains here in Boston that could only make Noah happy, Summer is really here.

Before you relax and enjoy yourself in the usual ways, consider my earlier reports that grilling meat will kill you, your swimming pool will kill you, and the Sun will kill you. And don't even think about a staycation.

Ok, you say, why not just slather on 5 gallons of SPF 5000 sunblock and head to the beach?

Because the sand will kill you. Or at least make you sick. According to a study by some people in white coats, people who play in beach sand were 20-24 percent more likely to report gastrointestinal illness and diarrhea than those who just looked at it with horror and ran away.

Nestle Cookie-Gate Cover Up

The Nestle cookie dough recall that has so far sickened 69 people and put 34 into the hospital --9 with kidney failure-- has taken an unexpected twist.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nestle had denied access to FDA inspectors to its files of consumer complaints, pest-control records, and other information.

According to the full article (you have to have a subscription to access this), inspectors found "dirty equipment" and 3 "ant-like" creatures during a previous visit to the plant, but did not see fit to close the plant or require further action.

The FDA does not currently have the authority to force companies to provide such records except when they can prove that there is a grave immediate threat to public health. Congress is currently considering legislation to give the FDA this authority.

Forbes has more info here.

Nestle has recalled all raw cookie dough products that came from the suspect plant, but still continues to make pasta sauce and other non-cookie related products there.