1. This is a long lesson, but you can always pause, note or go back and rewatch this video. Now it's time to reduce your contact to plastic and swap where needed.
2. Here is a summary for your quick reference for reducing plastic exposures:
Ingestion - use the six factors that accelerate the interaction between plastics and food as a tool to reduce exposure:
- Time - reduce contact time and transfer products that come in plastic to glass
- Heat - avoid heating foods put in plastic
- Friction - avoid long blending or shaking liquids in plastic
- Contact with acidic foods - citrus, coffee, tomato products, vinegars draw more plasticizers into the food
- Contact with oily foods - increases plasticizers in the food
- Contact with damaged plastic containers
Inhalation - reduce airborne exposure:
- VOCs - New plastic products can have a strong chemical smell. Outgas in the sun until there is no odor.
- SVOCs - Once the VOCs are gone, you still have the SVOCs to deal with. HEPA vacuuming (more information in Resources below) is one of the best ways to reduce exposure to BPA and phthalates as they are (SVOCs) that ride on dust! Use a microfiber mop for cleaning floors and microfiber cloths for dusting.
Skin contact:
- Reduce skin contact with plastics. This is especially important for babies who play on the floor and put everything in their mouths.
3. Download your workbook in the Resource section.