I believe in the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention”. I myself am a frustrated inventor (frustrated, like millions of Inventors who don’t have money and connections to develop a product without it being stolen). Anyway, back to the positive: I’ve recently read of 3 new technologies that will FINALLY “kick-start” us into the 21’s century and get us off Fossil Fuels!

I’m happy to tell you about THREE MAJOR discoveries that will soon make the USA (and hopefully the world) COMPLETELY energy independent!

First, Black Silicon. A new laser process has been used to create “roughened-up” silicon that has the ability absorb MUCH more of the electromagnetic spectrum than just visible light! What this means is that FINALLY - We will be able to get USEFUL energy from small solar panels! That changes EVERYTHING! Imagine if, with just a few square feet of solar panels (say your car’s rooftop), you could continuously recharge your electric car batteries? For more information: Click Here

“The excitement started when they realized that this new material was 100 to 500x more light sensitive than regular silicon detectors. This could be a major breakthrough”

This discovery alone can change the world and make us energy independent! - But there’s more…

Next: New Lithium battery has been discovered by S. Korean University Scientists - with 8 TIMES more power density! Imagine electric cars could travel 8 TIMES farther than today! Range is the ONLY reason why EV’s haven’t taken off!!! Now EV’s only travel about 25 to 60 miles on a charge - What if they traveled 300 to 1000 miles on a charge? And what if they could be recharged in just 5 minutes? For more information: Click Here

Lastly, What if we cold make fuel from algae? Well we can! GreenStar.com is currently building plants that are doing just that! - So, what if we had Hybrids that used NO FOSSIL FUELS! What if this Algae made fuel was produced right at “gas” stations? For more information: Green Star

My Take: So as you can see… even in this time of “gloom and doom” technology continues to offer CHANGE and show that YES WE CAN! Now all we need is to have real leadership… Someone who recognizes what needs to be done… Oh, I forgot, WE WILL SOON HAVE PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!

Let’s all send a message to him by going to www.CHANGE.gov and

I couldn’t believe it, but this top guru is REALLY offering this entire course (several videos) for FREE! Actually, it’s better than free… because he’s included an affiliate program that pays $48 for those who want to buy a one-time-offer (which is a GREAT DEAL too!).

Don’t pass-up the opportunity to watch and learn from these videos (ALL FOR FREE!) These are HIGH QUALITY videos that can teach ANYONE how to create great mini-sites so YOU (YES YOU) can FINALLY start making money online on autopilot - EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT COMPUTERS OR SALES!

Click
Here To Get FREE Private Access to
This
$197 Value, Life Changing Product!

*************************************************
THE ACTUAL VIDEOS
*************************************************

Here’s a brief summary of each video. Obviously
it’s impossible to list every single thing here,
but I want you to get a feel for what each one
covered, and how well it covered it.

If you’re in a hurry, you can just check the
videos out right now for free. Here’s the URL:

http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=62673

VIDEO 1 - INTRODUCTION

This videos introduces you to the entire course, as
well as the teacher himself. You’ll learn what you can
expect from the course, and why it’s structured the
way it is.

Michael realizes that you may not have heard of him,
and so he spends some time establishing his
credibility with you by sharing some of his biggest
successes. It doesn’t come across as bragging at all.
Michael explains that, in order for you to get value
from the teachings, you need to have faith that the
teacher actually knows what he’s talking about. By the
end of this video, you will have no doubt.

By the way, this is a good lesson for all of us
product developers. If you want people to accept you
as an authority on any subject, you first need to
establish your credibility with the reader. That way
he’s willing to relax, and trust that what you’re
telling him is sound advice.

VIDEO 2 - THE BASICS

This video will introduce you to the basics of mini
site marketing. This will set the foundation that all
future learning will rest upon, so it’s important to
pay close attention to this one.

You’ll learn:

* What mini-sites are, and what makes them different
from regular content sites.

* Which businesses they work well for… and which ones
they don’t.

* The right mindset to have when it comes to creating
mini sites as part of your online business strategy.

* And the different tools you need to get started.

This was a great video, and did an excellent job of
kicking things off, and building the foundation for
the rest of the course.

VIDEO 3 - SQUEEZE PAGES

This is probably one of the most useful videos of the
entire course. Every Internet marketer needs to build
an email list, but how do you do it? What is the best
way to capture the most opt-ins?

The answer is ’squeeze pages’. This video will teach
you:

* Why using a squeeze page is far superior to other
opt-in methods.

* The single most important thing you must include at
the top of your squeeze page to skyrocket your opt-in
rate.

* The secret structure of a squeeze page, and why most
marketers get it wrong (which costs them a LOT of
money).

* The most important to include in your opt-in process
that will make sure that people actually receive your
email.

After watching this video, you’ll know everything you
need to know to start building a massive opt-in list
right away. This will probably be the first video that
you ‘take action’ on. You’ll be so excited about the
possibilities, that I guarantee you’ll go and create
your own squeeze page right away.

VIDEO 4 - MINI SITE COPYWRITING - PART
ONE

Nothing happens until the sales copy is written.
Graphics alone will never sell a product, but sales
copy alone WILL. This video begins to demystify the
mysterious process of writing words that make people
whip out their credit cards and buy.

Specifically, you’ll learn:

* Why you need to learn copywriting, even if you “hate
to write”

* What a compelling offer looks like, and how to tell
the difference.

* How to write an eyeball-grabbing headline that
practically forces your readers to go through your
entire page.

* A simple trick you can use in your opening to make
your reader want to learn more.

There is no skill that is more important to your
success than the ability to write killer sales copy.
Make sure you pay extra attention to this video, as
well as…

VIDEO 5 - MINI SITE COPYWRITING - PART
TWO

This video dives right into the individual components
of a killer sales letter. You’ll learn how to create
the “secret structure” of a mini site sales letter
that makes big money. Specifically, you’ll learn:

* How to create captivating body copy that draws your
reader into the sales letter.

* Bullets that force your reader to keep reading the
whole page, and makes them insanely curious and want
to buy your product

* How to take the risk off people’s shoulders, so
they’ll feel safe buying from you.

* How to craft your ‘call to action’, and get people
to whip out their credit cards and buy immediately.

* The secrets of writing a killer P.S. that helps seal
the deal, and flip your prospect into a buyer
instantly.

This video covered a surprising amount of detail,
especially considering that this course is not
specifically about copywriting. Michael Rasmussen is
definitely someone who overdelivers in his educational
products.

VIDEO 6 - HOW TO AUTOMATE THE
DELIVERY OF YOUR INFOPRODUCT

Unless you want to be chained to your computer, you
must learn how to put your mini sites on autopilot.
The only thing you should be doing is driving traffic,
and letting the site itself do all the work, including
the work of instantly delivering the product to the
customer.

This video will walk you through the process of
automating your product delivery, so you can just
relax, and collect the money. The best part is… once
you have this automated system set up, you never have
to touch it again.

VIDEO 7 - HOW TO “GROW” YOUR SALE

This video is guaranteed to be an eye opener for
almost everyone who watches it, even the experienced
marketers. Michael dives into some of the most
effective ‘upselling’ techniques that I’ve ever seen.

Nowhere else on the Internet have I seen such a
thorough tutorial on how to increase the ’size’ of
your orders. You’ll learn:

* The psychology of ‘upselling’, and how to use it
make your customer spend even more money with you.
The best part? He’ll think it was his idea!

* The absolute best time to upsell your customer. This
one will surprise you when you realize how much money
you’ve been leaving on the table by skipping this
step.

* 5 simple techniques to increase your profit by up to
100%.

If you’ve already got a mini site that’s up and
running, this video will make a big difference for you
right away. Use any of these ‘plug and profit’
strategies to increase your income literally
overnight!

VIDEO 8 - CREATING AN AFFILIATE SALES
FORCE

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed that all successful
marketers have in common, it’s that they have a great
affiliate program. They create a program that allows
other people to make good money by promoting their
products, and they get to just sit back and relax,
while everyone else is doing the hard work of
promoting FOR them.

If you’ve ever dreamed of having an army of motivated
sales people working hard to make you money, then
you’re going to love this video. Michael will teach
you:

* What an affiliate program is, and how to set one up
very quickly.

* Exactly what tools you need to give your affiliates
(most people miss the mark here, so pay extra
attention to this part).

* Why merely having an affiliate program is NOT enough
to convince people to sign up, and what you can do
instead to have people eagerly trying to become one of
your affiliates.

* How to motivate affiliates to sell for you.

VIDEO 9 - MINI SITE MISTAKES TO AVOID

Let’s face it… it’s not enough to explain what you
should do. You also need to know what mistakes you
should avoid. Michael has already made these costly
mistakes, but you don’t have to. You’ll learn:

- Why people do judge a book by its cover… and how to
capitalize on that for your mini-site

- The single biggest reason people don’t buy from a
mini site, and how you can apply this ‘instant fix’.

- The single biggest thing that will kill your
mini-site (it’s not what you think, and making this
mistake is a surefire way to drain money from your
bank account FAST!)

- Two list building mistakes that’ll cripple your
long-term profits.

VIDEO 10 - SECRETS OF CREATING A
PRODUCT FUNNEL

This video will walk you through the process of
designing a product line that will make you a TON of
money. There’s a lot more to it than you’d think,
which is why this important concept (which was taken
from direct marketing) gets it’s own video.

After watching this video, you’ll understand why you
can’t just have a single front end product, and you’ll
know exactly what to do in order to get your customer
to keep buying more and more expensive products from
you… completely on autopilot!

This video is a MUST for any serious marketer who
wants to make a lot of money from their online
business.

VIDEO 11 - OUTSOURCING SECRETS FOR
WORKING LESS, AND MAKING MORE

The title of this video says it all. You’ll learn
all of Michael’s secrets for getting top notch
freelancers to help you create your mini site empire
in record time.

Let’s face it, you can’t be an expert at everything
that mini sites require. For example, it’s really
tough to be a top notch graphic designer, while also
mastering HTML, and then becoming a killer
copywriter, on top of also creating the product
itself.

And the list goes on and on. If you want to be
efficient, and begin making money as fast as
possible, outsourcing is the secret to making it
happen. This video will show you exactly what to do,
as well as some common (and very expensive) pitfalls
to avoid.

VIDEO 12 - OUTSOURCING SECRETS FOR
WORKING LESS, AND MAKING MORE

Let’s face it… it doesn’t matter how great your
mini site is if you don’t get any traffic coming to
it. Getting traffic can be one of the most confusing
and mysterious parts of making money online IF you
don’t get the proper education.

Thankfully, Michael really dives in, and gives you a
lightning fast education in this area. Specifically,
you’ll learn:

* How to use Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising to get
targeted traffic fast.

* 3 ways to get targeted traffic without spending a
dime.

* 2 ways to leverage the experience and contacts of
other people to explode your traffic.

* 3 traffic strategies to avoid like the plague!

By the time you’re done with this video, you’ll know
what to do right away to begin driving targeted
visitors to your mini site.

Wow, you get all those videos for free? Click
here to check out the Mini Site Profits Exposed
course for yourself:

http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=62673

*************************************************
DELUXE VIDEOS
*************************************************

Mini Site Profits Exposed comes with 12 videos, and
has more content than most 300 dollar home study
courses. And did I mention that it’s free?

If you decide that you want to continue your
education, and get the biggest possible advantage, you
can also upgrade to the deluxe course for a small fee.
The deluxe course contains four full-length videos
that each cover one advanced topic in great detail.

Here’s a breakdown of each video:

*************************************************
VIDEO 13 - DESIGNING A KILLER BACK END
THAT RUNS COMPLETELY ON AUTOPILOT
*************************************************

This deluxe video could easily be a whole course in
itself. It walks you though the entire process of
setting up a back end that is completely automated
using an autoresponder system.

You’ll learn how to set up your autoresponder to
automatically remove a person from your prospect list
after he buys, and then insert him into your customer
list. This is where your new autoresponder sequence
will start promoting your back end products
automatically.

Bottom line… if you want to make the big bucks like
all the Internet marketing gurus, you need to create a
back end that works hard for you while you’re out
creating new mini sites and developing new products.
This video will show you how.

*************************************************
VIDEO 14 - LIST BUILDING SECRETS
*************************************************

In this deluxe video, Michael will walk you through
some of his best tactics for growing a massive list
from your mini site. He’ll not only teach you what to
add to your mini site, but he’ll also show you what
you must REMOVE from your mini site in order to get
the most possible subscribers.

Building a list is about SO much more than just
offering a free newsletter. In fact, Michael shows you
five different things you can offer your readers to
get them to instantly give you their name and email.

You’ll also learn the best places to actually put the
opt-in email form on your mini site. You’ll also learn
about pop ups and tell-a-friend scripts, as well as a
bunch of other incredible tactics for growing your
list.

I have a hunch that you’ll find yourself referring to
this video over and over again.

*************************************************
VIDEO 15 - MARKETING ACTIVITIES THAT
MAKE YOU MONEY
*************************************************

When you think about all the ’stuff’ you can do to
drive traffic to your site, it’s hard to know what you
should focus on first. This video will walk you
through the four most important marketing activities
you can do to drive traffic to your mini site.

Once you master these four, you’ll never have to
wonder what you should do when you start a new mini
site. You’ll have an easy-to-follow road map for
driving tons of targeted prospects to your site, so
you can begin making money ASAP!

*************************************************
VIDEO 16 - MAKE MAXIMUM PROFITS FROM YOUR MINI SITE
*************************************************

In this final deluxe video, Michael will reveal his
best kept secrets for squeezing maximum profit out of
any mini site. These are techniques that you have NOT
seen before, so you’ll want to pay extra close
attention to this one.

Think about it… if you’re going to put the time in,
and set up a mini site the proper way (like Michael
shows you in these videos), then it only makes sense
that you’d want to make the most amount of money
possible from it.

In this video, you’ll learn:

- How changing one sentence on your mini site could
double your profits easily.

- How to instantly increase the dollar amount of your
average order (which puts more money into your
pocket).

- The one thing you must add to your ‘download page’
that will instantly increase your income (with no
extra work, once this thing is put into place).

- How to turn your actual product into a money making
machine!

*************************************************
CONCLUSION
*************************************************

Whew! That was a lot of information, and I hope it
helped you decide to check out Michael Rasmussen’s
Mini Site Profits Exposed video course. Remember the
course is absolutely free, so you have nothing to
lose.

Michael believes that it’s important for him to prove
himself to you before he ever asks you to buy anything
from him. He wants to show you that he will deliver
you the absolute best education available anywhere,
and he’ll gladly do it for free… just to win you
over!

So go ahead and check out Mini Site Profits Exposed
right now, and see what all the fuss is about. I
highly recommend that you upgrade to the deluxe
course as well. Here’s the URL:

Click Here

Warmly,
George Lewis

1. Know how to do something people need? Put an ad on Craigslist.org and offer to do it! Do you know how to clean, paint, fix things, translate, elder care… almost anything you can do can make you money on Craigslist.org… and the ads are FREE!

2. Sell something you don’t use much on Craigslist.org… (no, I don’t work for Craigslist), I just think it’s a great place to make money fast.

3. Consider A Pay-By-The-Day Job Agency. There are employment agencies that specialize in this type of arrangement, and you can get paid at the end of each workday. The jobs you find through this type of agency can vary, but they are usually in construction, factories, offices, and manufacturing. You Can Try Going to go where other day laborers meet (street corners or hardware store parking lots) and wait for building contractors, landscapers, home owners and small business owners, but it’s usually pretty crowded these days… and with people who will work for less than what you might need… so try an agency first if you can.

4. Check help-wanted ads in your local newspaper (it’s most likely on your porch). Classifieds are a great place to find quick labor gigs, like painting, mowing, or moving work. keep in mind that less formal arrangements could result in you not getting paid or worse, you getting injured without any kind of compensation!

5. Pawn something. If you don’t want to sell your precious guitar, and you just need cash till you get your paycheck, you can go to a pawnshop and hopefully buy it back.

6 Do a yard-sale or make a quick sign (thick red or black letters on a white page is best). Go to a busy street corner and display the item. Put a good - even ridiculously low price (depending on your desperation). Items priced at half of what somebody would be able to buy them at a store is a good place to start. With this strategy, you may be able to sell them within an hour or two.

7. Become a street performer. If you can sing or dance, play music, or tell jokes, you can probably get some cash by performing in public. Don’t do this unless you are actually good at it. Put together a good act and find a place to perform. Give people a dose of live entertainment, and hopefully they’ll reward you with tips.

8. Panhandle (remember these are tips for the DESPERATE!). A panhandler is a person who depends on the spontaneous charity of strangers for their survival. If you REALLY need cash FAST, you might swallow your pride and decide to ask for help. Make a sign, find a good location, ask politely for money, and say thank you. Don’t make-up a story… just explain your need.

9. If you have a few days and a bank account you can try Cyber begging: (setting-up a free blog on blogger.com or wordpress.com). This is becoming increasingly popular with students and artists. There have been some amazing success stories, but these are the exception rather than the rule. While there are some sites on which you can beg just by putting up a brief ad… but if you’re looking to make any substantial money you’ll need a few days and a Pay-Pal account to make it successful.

10. “Donate” plasma. Plasma is a component of blood, and the process is similar to donating blood. You’re not permitted to actually sell your plasma, but you can be compensated for your time spent donating (and essentially, it’s like selling your plasma). Your blood is drawn, the plasma is separated, and the red blood cells are returned to your body. You can make US$20-30 per visit and give plasma twice a week, but you must weigh at least 110 pounds, be between the ages of 18 and 59, and be in good health.[1] Many college students do this to make extra cash.[2] If you haven’t been to the doctor in a while, this may be a good way to get a free health checkup.[3]

11. Recycle. Broke because you bought too much soda? Turn the old cans into cash by bringing them in to be recycled. If you don’t have your own cans, go looking for them in trash cans or along busy roads, parks, especially rural roads. Call up several recyclers to compare prices. If you live in a state with a bottle or can deposit system, you may be able to get 5 or 10 US cents per container. Other scrap metals are also worth something, so if you’ve got a big pile of scrap in your backyard or you know of an legal dumpsite, you can pick it up in your truck and anywhere from 1 or 2 cents per pound for scrap steel to considerably more for metals such as copper or aluminum.[4]

12. Fill out surveys online. Companies who want to know what’s on the minds of their customers are willing to pay for your opinion. Online surveys won’t make you rich, and won’t allow you to quit your day job, but you can make a little extra cash. When choosing between surveys, read the fine print. There is usually an asterisk near the “you won” part. This means you have to do something like buying stuff before you even get to talk about your prize. Don’t fall into these sorts of traps, they’re ridiculously difficult and not worth it. In general, the more companies you sign up with, the more survey requests you’ll receive in your email and more opportunity you’ll have to make money.

Lastly: offer to write product reviews. If you’re knowledgeable about some subjects and can write well, sites will pay you to offer product or site reviews…

If you have any other ways to make quick cash (legally), please post a comment.

There is a theory that the spark of genius lurks hidden within all of us. Now scientists are developing a ‘thinking cap’ that could turn that theory into practice and unlock the amazing potential of the human brain.

The device uses tiny magnetic pulses to change the way the brain works and has produced remarkable results in tests. Wearing the hairnet-like cap for a few minutes improved artistic ability and proof-reading skills.

If the technique is perfected, the device could be marketed as a cap slipped on to boost creativity when inspiration is low. The Australian experiments are inspired by savants, people who, like Dustin Hoffman’s character in the film Rain Man, have amazing skills or talents despite a severe mental disability.

Some have mind-boggling calculating skills or ‘internal calendar’ that can almost instantly work out the day that any given date fell on. Brain wave Researchers used the cap with a magnetic coil to ‘zap’ the left side of the brain. Others are exceptional artists or can master a complicated piece of music after hearing it only once.

Around 10 per cent of people with autism are savants. Now scientists have shown it is possible to temporarily bring out such talents in others.

The Sydney University researchers used the cap equipped with magnetic coil to zap the left side of the brain. This side generally sees the ‘bigger picture’ and suppresses the detail-hoarding right side. In one experiment, volunteers were asked to draw a dog, horse or face from memory before and after being zapped for ten to 15 minutes. Four of the 11 volunteers produced more natural pictures after wearing the cap. Two also spotted written mistakes in pieces of text that they’d overlooked earlier, a Royal Society conference heard on Monday. In a third experiment, the device boosted the ability to quickly estimate the number of dots shown on a screen.

However, the flashes of brilliance were just that, with the effect wearing off within an hour. The technique, known as trans-cranial magnetic stimulation, has previously shown promise in treating depression and schizophrenia.

The ‘thinking cap’ can improve artistic ability and proof-reading skills after a few minutes, left, and Professor Allan Snyder who hopes to be able to produce creativity on demand

While it is not exactly clear how it works, careful targeting of the magnetic pulses allows over or under-active parts of the brain to be calmed down or jump-started.

In this study, it is thought it ’switched off’ the part of the brain that deals in whole ideas, allowing detail that has been unconsciously filed to shine through.

Researcher Professor Allan Snyder believes the experiments show we all have hidden talents, we just have trouble tapping into them.

He has said in the past: ‘I believe that each of us has within us non-conscious machinery which can do extraordinary art, extraordinary memory and extraordinary mathematical calculations.

Enigma: Dustin Hoffman, right, in Rain Man as autistic savant Raymond Babbit, who has exceptional memory recall. The Sydney study was inspired by savants, who have amazing skills or talents despite severe mental disabilities

‘We don’t normally access these skills because they are the machinery behind our daily lives and everything we do. We are only interested in the answer, not the working that went on to produce the answer. When you make complex decisions, or even catch a cricket ball, you are not aware of how your brain is performing all these complex tasks. My theory is that there is a lot happening and maybe you could see it by shutting off that conscious part of the brain. His ultimate aim is to produce a thinking cap that would unleash creativity as and when required. “Imagine if I could temporarily give you a child’s look at the world”.

Bush’s Plan To Bailout His Bank Buddies (world-wide) passed today. Now the bastards that caused this crisis are going to have the money to keep doing it until they fail again!

These same people (the super rich) will AGAIN start buying all the foreclosed houses (with OUR money)! And like in the savings-and-loan crisis, the middle class is in jepardy of dissapearing!

What’s even worse… these huge financial institutions are being bought-out by even larger GLOBAL financial institutions… (Which are also too-large-to-fail!) - So all we’re doing is making the problem WORSE for the next time they fail… and you know they will!

Lets Send a letter letting everyone who voted for this that they will be voted out!

Click the image below to go to a site that has a pre-written letter that you can customize and send to congress… Don’t put this off, do it NOW!

Speak-Out NOW!

I just sent my letter - click above and do the same! And make sure you email all your friends!

WE HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE OUR GOVERNMENT- LET’S ALL VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA!

George Lewis

Founder

I like it when a company offers average people a way to start their own online business even if you know NOTHING about business! What? Yes, your read correctly, this company sets you up with a professional site for a very low “rent” - No web-design fees, no employees, no webmaster fees… just a well thought-out system for ANYONE to start a business online.

Just pick a niche that you know something about and enjoy, and start running your own business today… And guess what? It’s most-likely tax deductible! (check with your tax advisor).

My Take: I think this is an interesting option and it makes running a web-business much easier, but make sure that you actually read the terms… I think there is a $6.95 per month hosting fee and make sure you sign-up to the affiliate programs in order to make the commission on sales of banner ads, ebooks, etc. The last thing is to make sure you learn how to bring traffic to your site (that’s the main problem with these businesses). On the bottom of this page I’ve included links to great books on how to get website traffic and more. Other than that, it looks like a good program. Please leave any comments if you start your own business using them.

P.S. If you have a business already, you should sign-up for their free 2-tier affiliate program too.

Make sure you visit us daily to get another great FREE software!

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HiddenBuzz.com giveaway of the Day

BPA, is an endocrine disruptor which mimics estrogen. According to the Environmental Working Group, BPA has been linked to prostate cancer, breast cancer, and neurobehavioral changes in children who were exposed to it in the womb. The results of a new study out yesterday suggest a possible link between BPA and heart disease, diabetes and liver abnormalities. The FDA has concluded that BPA is not dangerous; however, Environmental groups are not happy about the report because they say the FDA’s conclusion relied on industry-funded studies.

Yesterday, the FDA met again and stated that BPA is safe but in the same breath, gave suggestions for how to avoid it. Many states decided months ago to not wait for this report and are acting on their own by banning the chemical in baby bottles. Legislation has even been introduced to ban BPA in children’s products. Canada has banned the use of BPA in baby bottles and New Jersey and at least 10 other states are evaluating bills to restrict use of BPA.

BPA has been getting a lot of attention due to the fact that it can be found in baby bottles, teething toys, pacifiers, and reusable water bottles but it doesn’t end there. Let’s start with things related to babies. Z Recommends offers the most comprehensive information I’ve ever come across on specific baby items that do not contain BPA. Their list has specific BPA-free choices for baby bottles, teethers, tableware, pacifiers, utensils, feeding aids, sippy cups and pumping supplies. They also offer a text messaging service where you can get “on the go” information sent to your phone when you’re out shopping for any of these items.

BPA is also found in the epoxy resin that seals the metal lids on ALL baby food in glass jars. Yes, even Earth’s Best organic baby food. There are a few BPA-free options. These would include prepared frozen baby food, such as Happy Baby or Yummy Spoonfuls, Gerber’s baby food in the plastic containers (type 7 plastic which has been confirmed by Green and Clean Mom to be a combination of type 1 and 2 plastics in this instance), or make your own.

Infant formula also comes in contact with BPA. Liquid formula in cans has the highest levels but it can also be found in the epoxy resin on the peel-back protective coverings on powder formula. Some liquid formula in plastic containers does not contain BPA. The Environmental Working Group has very useful information on their site about this.

Other non-baby related items where BPA can be found are canned goods. Acidic food, such as tomatoes, cause the BPA in cans to be even higher. Eden’s Organic beans are the only canned goods that do not contain BPA. It needs to be noted that any of their other canned goods do contain it.

To avoid BPA, try to buy fresh or frozen foods or food in glass jars. Yes, the glass jars would contain BPA in the lids, as mentioned above, but it would be less than what is found in canned goods.

Reusable water bottles and reusable plastic food containers can also contain BPA. RubberMaid has put together a list of their BPA-free products and The Green Guide has made a very useful list on BPA-free safe containers.

When purchasing plastic items for your home, safer choices would be looking for those made from type 1,2,4 or 5 plastics. An easy way to remember this would be when holding up your hand, never point your middle finger (fingers 1,2, 4 and 5 will remain up!).

My Take: Here is a link to a printable card you can take with you to help you buy better items: Printable Card With Non BPA Products

You Are What You Eat

When you eat or drink things that are stored in plastic, taste it, smell it, wear it, sit on it, and so on, plastic is incorporated into you. In fact, the plastic gets into the food and food gets into the plastic and you. So, quite literally, you are what you eat[1]. . . drink. . . and breathe — plastic! These plastics are called “Food Contact Substances” by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but until April 2002, they were called “Indirect Food Additives.”[2] The new name is cleansed of the implication that plastic gets into your food. In spite of this semantic deception, migration is a key assumption of the FDA.

According to Dr. George Pauli, Associate Director of Science Policy, FDA Office of Food Additive Safety, the regulations mandated in 1958 assume that all plastics migrate toxins into the food they contact. Migration is the movement of free toxins from plastic into the substances they contact — in this case it’s your food. The manufacturer must “prove” that the migrations fall within an acceptable range.[3] I agree with the assumption of migration from all plastics, but I find a critical disparity between the level of science employed by the regulations and the current scientific knowledge regarding the levels at which they migrate and the effects they can have. In particular, I am more concerned with extremely low concentrations. There is also a conflict of interest in allowing the manufacturer to submit its own testing to the FDA as proof of anything. We invite the fox into the henhouse and are surprised when there’s nothing left but eggshells and feathers.

The amount of migration and corresponding toxicological effects are highly disputed topics, even within the FDA, which has commonly acquiesced to industry in its regulation of technologies that are used in the production of our foods — plastics, pesticides, growth hormones, irradiation, and microwave. This is clear from the mass of expert and citizen testimony against such technologies that regulatory agencies bend over backwards and jump through flaming hoops to please their corporate clients, as they are called.

There is a worst plastic for any purpose — polyvinylchloride (vinyl or PVC). However, there is no best plastic to contain food or drink. It is my hope that this article will clarify this viewpoint. By the time you’ve finished reading, you should be closer to forming your own evaluation of plastics.

Its Uses

Plastic is used in contact with nearly all packaged foods. Most cardboard milk containers are now coated with plastic[4] rather than wax. It is sprayed on both commercial and organic produce to preserve its freshness. Plastic is even used to irrigate, mulch, wrap, and transport organic food. Organic bananas now come from wholesalers with a sticky plastic wrapping the cut stem to protect the bananas from a black mold.[5] The mold is controlled on non-organic bananas by dipping the cut ends in a fungicide. Chiquita would only reveal that it’s a “food grade plastic,” which means that it meets minimum regulatory standards. But since it has a sticky feel to it, I suspect it either carries a fungicide or its physical characteristics act as a fungicide. Either way, if it is or acts as a fungicide, the EPA regulates it as a pesticide, which fungicides are considered a subset of. [6] In a way, this is similar to the regulation of corn that is genetically engineered to carry the toxic bacterium bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) in every cell. Rather than the FDA regulating it as a food, the EPA regulates it as a pesticide. Incredible as it may seem, they see our food as a pesticide.

According to the FDA scientist I spoke with, it’s a proprietary formula that he doesn’t know about and would offer nothing beyond that. Disclosure of proprietary information is a criminal offense.[7] All plastic manufacturers hide behind trade secrets. This is true with nearly all consumer products. It is quite impossible to know the chemical makeup of any plastic without paying a substantial amount of money for an independent lab analysis.

How is it made?

In a nutshell, plastic is made by combining monomers into polymers under great heat and pressure in a process called polymerization. Each manufacturer has its own proprietary formula for each plastic. And each uses a variety of additives such as plasticizers for flexibility, UV filters for protection from sunlight, antistatic agents, flame-retardants, colorants, antioxidants, and more. Heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, and lead are common additives. There are also chemicals used to facilitate production such as mold releases, and countless other toxic chemicals regularly added to plastic consumer goods without our knowledge or approval. Many of the products and byproducts of the intermediary steps of plastics production are used in other plastics or industrial processes and products such as pesticides or fertilizer. For holistic thinkers, the mention of plastics and pesticides in the same sentence should begin an informative thought process, while keeping in mind that they all have complete regulatory approval.

The True Cost of Plastic

Plastic is ubiquitous in our lives because it is convenient and relatively inexpensive. It is advertised as safe and that it saves lives.[8] Its safety is based on outdated science and regulations. And while it saves lives in the short run, the record against plastic is looking quite different.

Its convenience comes from being lightweight and its ability to absorb impact shock without breaking, which on its own merit, is hard to argue with. It comes in an endless range of colors and finishes, is pliable, and is easily formed and molded. Most would say it’s a perfect material, right? Here’s where the bad news begins.

Its inexpensiveness is the result of a large portion of the costs associated with its life — production, use and disposal — being put onto society as a whole. This unsolicited financial burden on society manifests itself as increased taxes to finance municipal curbside recycling programs, landfill space, and incineration. It also increases health care and insurance costs as a result of its incineration polluting the air, water, and food. I’ll give much more detail on the negative health effects later, but for now, suffice to say that a full and truthful lifecycle analysis would reveal that the long-term negative health and socioeconomic effects at the local and global scales far outweigh the benefits realized by the use of plastics.

What’s so bad about plastic?

For Decades, the plastics industry has deceived us with assurances that the polymerization process binds the constituent chemicals together so perfectly that the resulting plastic is completely nontoxic and passes through us without a hitch. In spite of this industry disinformation,[9] the polymerization process is never 100% perfect. Logically then, there are always toxicants available for migration into the many things they contact — your food, air, water, skin, and so on. Both the FDA and the industry know this. However, because of many millions of dollars worth of advertising and public relations work, consumers are educated to think that plastics are safe.

The additives utilized are not bound to the already imperfect plastic, leaving them quite free to migrate. One quick example: without a plasticizer additive, PVC would be rigid. The plasticizer resides between the molecules of the PVC, acting as a lubricant that allows those molecules to slide by each other, and thus flex. Many containers used for food or water are made of it. Even Barbie dolls are made of it. The plasticizer migrates out from day one. And as it ages, the migration can visibly weep out of it.[10]

Plastics, their additives and other processing chemicals can be toxic at extremely low concentrations. In fact, some are significantly more toxic at extremely low concentrations than at much higher concentrations, which is contrary to the FDA scientist’s paradigm that, “The dose makes the poison,” meaning that the higher the concentration, the more toxic something is. It is an interpretation of the writings of Paracelsus, an alchemist who wrote in the 16th century that, “Alle Ding sind Gift und nichts ohne Gift; alein die Dosis macht das ein Ding kein Gift ist” [All things are poison and nothing without poison; alone it is the dose that makes a thing no poison].[11] It’s now 500 years later and that assumption of Paracelsus is still the basis for the many regulations. Except on chemical-by-chemical investigations by various independent, institutional, and academic labs, plastics are not explored for harmful effects or regulated in any meaningful way.

Extremely Low Doses and Synergy

Since it is known that all plastics migrate into food, it behooves us to look for the evidence at meaningful levels of detection, at and below single-digit parts-per-trillion (ppt) or ng/kg. Extremely low doses are especially relevant because they can upset the natural balance of the endocrine system. To paraphrase the report of an EPA workshop in 1996, endocrine disruptors (EDs) are external agents that interfere with the production, release, transport, metabolism, binding, action or elimination of natural hormones in the body responsible for maintaining internal balances and the regulation of developmental processes.[12]

Current knowledge of EDs turns the work of Paracelsus — that guy born in the 15th century — upside down. Some chemicals can be more toxic at extremely low doses than extremely high doses. The timing of the exposure can be much more relevant than its dose. Most vulnerable times are in periods of rapid growth, such as those in embryo and children right up to puberty. They can be exposed in the womb and before conception, if sperm and/or ovum are contaminated. The maladies of the children of Gulf War veterans are a prime example of this type of exposure.[13]

Synergy is an important issue that is mostly disregarded by the FDA. Many will even debunk the idea that low dose synergy is real. In combination with other commonly used products, the toxicity of the migratory chemicals from plastics can be potentiated by synergy. A synergy can occur between two or more chemicals that elevate the combination’s toxicity to hundreds of times greater than that of the individual chemicals. Besides plastics, other household chemicals can be part of a synergy with plastics.

Nuclear radiation can also severely damage the endocrine system. According to Dr. Ernest Sternglass, Professor Emeritus of Radiological Physics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, the synergy between nuclear radiation and chemical toxicants is well documented.[14] Gulf War vets (I and II) were and still are being exposed to depleted uranium (DU) from the tons of armour-busting shells they fired being distributed across the Gulf Region as an aerosol smaller than the size of a virus.[15] The hazardous materials (MOPP) suit that soldiers are given do not protect them from the infinitesimally small particles of DU because the high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters do not work below 1/10 of a micron (0.1µ). Each one of us is exposed to extremely low levels of radiation from the nuclear power plants scattered about the US.[16]

On the home front, even the products in our day-in and day-out humdrum lives are coated with, contain, or are made of synthetic chemicals that can interact synergistically with each other. The list is endless but includes beauty products such as nail polish, eyeliner, deodorant and aftershave; household cleaning products such as tile and carpet cleaners, air fresheners that are solid, plug-in, or spray. Even gas and diesel engine exhaust are included. Quite frankly, the FDA doesn’t even consider all sources of a chemical in its review of industry product applications.

Consider that there between 87,000 to 100,000 chemicals in commercial production. At the time I wrote this, there were 22,241,247 organic and inorganic substances registered with Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry.[17] Only eight months before that, there were 1,112,474 fewer chemicals.[18] They are regulated and tested in what I would call a “don’t look — don’t see” style of science that boggles the minds of those who look just a little below the surface of the happy little corporate-science myths. The focus is on the wonders of plastic with a purposeful avoidance of the painfully evident negative human and environmental health effects. Using the more conservative 87,000 chemicals, there are approximately 1.063725377 x 10^86,991 different combinations possible that could have a synergistic effect on toxicity.[19] For the purposes of this article, that number is roughly 1 with 87,000 zeros after it. Even if researchers had the time and money to test them all, they still wouldn’t know what to look for, because there is no precedent. In addition, one must account for the uniqueness of each living organism and its unique environment, which further expand the possible synergies and possibilities.

Water Stored in Plastic

These bottles are be made from various types of plastic —  polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl), and others. To reiterate, they all migrate to some degree. I will focus on just one chemical that migrates out of one plastic that is used to make products with high use and sales profiles.

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a monomer used in the synthesis of PC plastics, epoxy resins, and composites, as well as a heat stabilizer in PVC. The list of products containing BPA is long. Some rigid containers such as water and baby bottles are made of PC. The popular Nalgene® water bottles are made of Lexan® brand PC. In the medical industry, it is used for syringes, containers, lenses, and dental products. Keep in mind that the FDA regulates only plastics in contact with foods and not any of the other exposures a person might commonly experience every day at home, school, or the office. Because the FDA approves plastics for specific uses rather than for individual chemicals, BPA is not explicitly regulated.[20] It is important to note that all exposures, no matter what origin, are relevant and cumulative. Even other chemicals that act in the body in similar ways can be part of the total effect. The body’s natural defenses try to breakdown toxins as they enter. These are called metabolites and can be significantly more toxic than the original chemical.

Today it is common that dentists coat children’s teeth with dental sealants [21] that harden (polymerize) within the mouth. This exposure to BPA is large enough to have biologic effects. [22] Just as with other plastics, dental sealants polymerize imperfectly, leaving free monomers to be ingested or absorbed through the skin within the mouth. When it comes to dental solutions without plastic, the choices are limited. And I must say that I am extremely frustrated by the situation. One orthodontist I spoke with creates retainers from metal wire that can replace the standard polycarbonate ones. In tooth replacement, even some materials that dentists call ceramic have a polymer matrix. Gold caps or crowns are an excellent choice, but they too are glued into place with a volatile polymer. By far, the best alternative is to keep your teeth healthy by brushing and flossing regularly, and by eating a healthy diet.

Food and beverages cans are coated with a BPA-containing plastic. During the processing of canned food, it is sterilized in the can at 250°F for 1 hour. Because heat increases its migration, this is an especially large exposure for people who eat canned foods. As PC plastics grow old, BPA and other chemicals are released. But even when they are new BPA migrates out of PC plastic.

The Code of Federal Regulations section on PC plastics allows for migratory chemicals in the hundreds of parts-per-million (ppm) range as well as a percentage of the plastic’s total weight. While concentrations of ppm and higher are relevant, there is vast area of exposure that falls well below the FDA’s radar in the parts-per-trillion (ppt) range and lower. Testing methods are available, but the cost would be far greater. Because the industry is responsible for testing, it protests madly about the idea that these concentrations are relevant. If the table was turned and the burden of proof was on the consumer, the FDA would demand the most up to date testing methods. A graphic example of 1 ppt is one drop of liquid in 660 rail tank cars. That’s a train 6 miles long!

In the year 2000, Consumers Union (CU) tested water from five-gallon PC plastic bottles for BPA, They found from 0.5 ppb to 11 ppb in water samples from eight of the ten 5-gallon jugs.[23] After industry spin-meisters discredited the study as being flawed, not many regulatory red flares were sent up within the FDA. This type of industry disinformation is standard operating procedure. Most times, the statements made could be compared it to one child calling another derogatory names, hoping that the recipient will become persona non grata with the other children. However, the CU study was indeed valid and the concentrations of BPA that were found are extremely relevant.

CU also found BPA in samples from baby bottles at worrisome levels.[24] CU advised its readers to avoid exposure to BPA by “dispos[ing] of polycarbonate baby bottles and replac[ing] them with bottles made of glass or polyethylene, an opaque, less-shiny plastic that does not leach bisphenol-A.”[25] That advice attracted the wrath of the plastics industry. But I will go further and advise readers not to serve or store any food — liquid or solid, water-based or fatty, hot or cold — in any plastic.

In April 2003, a study was published about BPA accidentally killing mice that had been held in polycarbonate cages at a lab.[26] It was found accidentally when it ruined a lab experiment that heated yeast in PC flasks to find out if the yeast produced estrogens. It was discovered that BPA from the PC flasks was the material that was estrogenic, and that it competed with the natural estrogen in a rat’s body. [27] I asked one noted researcher why labs still use plastics considering what it has been known since 1993 that BPA migrates and is hormonally active. The response was, “What are we supposed to do, go back to glass?” The tone of voice made it seem as if I had advised going back in time to live in the Stone Age. This is the state of what is still amazingly called science. There is a lack of reason and logic that goes well beyond what I knew possible before I began looking at the many aspects of this technology. Truth is sought, but the obvious is knocked to the ground and trampled over in the stampede to secure funding.

BPA’s Rap Sheet

The list of negative health effects associated in some way with exposure to BPA is remarkably long. The most visible effect may be aneuploidy, a chromosome abnormality found in more than 5% of pregnancies. Most aneuploid fetuses die in utero. About one-third of all miscarriages are aneuploid, making it the leading known cause of pregnancy loss. Among conceptions that survive to term, aneuploidy is the leading genetic cause of developmental disabilities and mental retardation. About 1 in 300 liveborn infants and 1 in 3 miscarriages are aneuploid. It is associated with Down syndrome,[28] Patau syndrome, [29] Edwards syndrome,[30] Klinefelter syndrome, [31] Turner syndrome, [32] Cri du chat syndrome, [33] and Alzheimer’s disease.[34] And each of these bears its own extensive list of maladies covering all parts and functions of the human body  —  both physical and mental. The condition at birth is directly related to the type of chromosome abnormality present in the embryo at the time of conception.[35] It is well documented that aneuploidy contributes to the increased risk of spontaneous abortion when the female partner is older, but it is also thought that males more than 30 years old may increase the risk of spontaneous abortion when the female partner is less than 30 years of age.[36]

Alzheimer’s disease generally occurs after the age of 50. In those afflicted with it, areas of brain become smaller with cell death and the cavities left become enlarged. The areas most affected are control memory, logical thinking, and personality. Only 5-10% of the cases are inherited. 14 million people with Alzheimer’s disease are predicted by 2050.

BPA is about 10,000-fold less potent than 17ß-estradiol, a potent estrogen that is synthesized primarily in the ovary, but also in the placenta, testis and possibly adrenal cortex. Because of the disparity, industry representatives claim it causes no harm at the levels that the majority of people are exposed to. However, a study in 2001 showed that even at such low potency, when combined with other xenoestrogens (estrogens from outside the body), they act together additively, effectively raising the body load of estrogen to dangerous levels.[41] Another study showed that there is an increased sensitivity to BPA during the perinatal period, which begins with completion of the twentieth to twenty-eighth week of gestation and ends 7 to 28 days after birth.[42] Exposure to BPA increases risk of mammary tumors.[43] To reiterate, there is no shortage of research published on the negative health effects of BPA.

Avoiding Plastic

I strongly advise individuals and governments to ban plastics wherever possible by utilizing the precautionary principal. The Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle is the consensus statement of a conference in 1998. Simply put it states that if you have reasonable suspicion of harm coming from (plastic in this case) then you must stop it from happening; the burden of proof must be on industry, not consumers; alternatives must be fully explored before using a new material or technology; and any decisions regarding such activities must be “open, informed, and democratic” and “must include affected parties.”[45]

Evidence of the negative health effects of plastics already exists in sufficient quantity to halt the use of it in contact with food. More importantly, I feel that the manufacture of plastic itself must be halted for a multitude of reasons. Besides causing an endless number of human deaths, disabilities, and diseases, plastic is clogging all habitats of the world and destroying the ecosystem. There is now 6 times more plastic than plankton floating around in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Plankton is a major food source for sea animals.[46] A large portion of it is preconsumer plastic that has not been made into a product yet. Called nurdels, they look very much like plankton in size and color. According to a paper by Arrigo et al in Geophysical Research Letters in October 2003, plankton production has been declining for the last 20 years with rising ocean surface temperatures. Along with increasing plastic quantities, the ratio of plastic to plankton is increasing, making it more of a target for hungry animals.

The researcher who found this, Captain Charles Moore, Director of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, told me that new data indicate that the ratio of plastic to zooplankton is even higher in two so-called floating plastic “Garbage Patches” that are each bigger than the State of Texas.[47], [48]

Nurdles are incorporated into all strata of the oceans with no known method of removal. DDE, a metabolite of DDT, and other dioxin-like chemicals concentrate on the surface of the plastic nurdles at a rate up to a million times that found in the ocean.[49] Captain Moore’s presentation includes images of sea animals that have suffocated and starved as a result. Even more startling is seeing plastic bits incorporated into the flesh of the sea animals.

Conclusion

As consumers, we always look for ways to maintain the status quo of our modern lives. However, the only logic I can see in the regulation of food contact plastics is profit at the expense of our health, the economy, society, and environment. You needn’t be a polymer scientist to know that plastic shouldn’t contact food. What is essential though is a firm standing in reality and a good grip on logic. It also requires being free of ties to the industry before that logic becomes evident.

First set aside your assumptions and look at the known long- and short-term negative effects of plastic on health, economy, environment, and society, as well as the long-term viability of the human race. Next contrast that with what you find as benefits. I guarantee that the stack of chips will be far larger in the negative pile.

If one were to listen only to nonprofits and the industry, it would be natural to think that only the additives are toxic and migrate. But everything about plastics is toxic — both the additives and the base plastics. And both migrate in quantities that are problematic at extremely low concentrations. Some chemicals are obviously more so than others. But it is undeniable that they all migrate all the time into everything that they touch.

Consider that:

• Ubiquitous — plastics are everywhere. . . our bodies, the air, water, oceans and so on

• Toxic — plastics are toxic. Both additives and base plastics

• World — almost everything we touch is made of or coated with plastics

• People — we are all exposed during every every minute of every day

• Unknown — almost nothing is known about individual chemicals that make up plastics

• Synergies — even less than nothing is known about the effects of combinations of plastics and other things including ionizing radiation

• Wishful thinking — the process by which plastics are considered safe by the FDA, the industry, nonprofits and users

Further Reading

• Alternatives to Plastic Paul Goettlich 3aug2005

• Be sure to browse through the Plastics index of Mindfully.org

• 78 Reasonable Questions to Ask about Any Technology - Stephanie Mills / Clamor, i.18, Jan/Feb03

• Identification Of Volatile Organic Compounds In a New Automobile - Scientific Instrument Services 23dec99

• EDSTAC Review - Davis Baltz / Commonweal 6may00

• Middlesex and the Limitations of Myth - Thea Hillman / ISNA News Spring03

References

[1] Brillat-Savarin, JA. Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante…Paris: Sautelet et Cie, 1826. Note: Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) was a French lawyer and politician who achieved fame through a book, Physiologie du Gout. “You are what you eat comes from the quote by Brillat-Savarin “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”
[2] Guidance for Industry: Preparation of Food Contact Notifications and Food Additive Petitions for Food Contact Substances: Chemistry Recommendations FINAL GUIDANCE U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, Office of Food Additive Safety April 2002 http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/opa2pmnc.html
[3] Telephone conversation with Dr. George Pauli, Associate Director of Science Policy, FDA Office of Food Additive Safety, and Mike Herndon, Head of Media, FDA Office of Food Additive Safety 22 October 2003 12:49 PM
[4] Polyethylene (source FDA telephone conversation)
[5] Cladosporium: Ascomycete. The most common mold in the world, found in soil and on textiles, tomatoes, spinach, bananas, and dead vegetation. For image http://www.carolinafilters.com/FunclspP.jpg
[6] Fungicides are a category of pesticide as regulated by the EPA. See What is a Pesticide? U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs 14feb97 http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/What-Is-A-Pesticide.htm
[7] Telephone conversation with Dr. George Pauli, Associate Director of Science Policy, FDA Office of Food Additive Safety, and Mike Herndon, Head of Media, FDA Office of Food Additive Safety 22 October 2003 12:49 PM
[8] Plastics: An Important Part Of Your Healthy Diet You could think of them as . . . Advertising by the American Plastics Council found in National Geographic magazine (abt.1996) http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/6th-Basic-Food-Group.htm
[9] Disinformation pronunciation: (”)di-”sin-f&r-’mA-sh&n Function: noun Date: 1939 : false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth Merriam-Webster online http://webster.com/
[10] Barbie’s PVC Body Gets Sticky as Dibutyl Phthalate Migrates Yvonne Shashoua / Conservation Department The National Museum of Denmark 19apr99 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Barbies-Health-Hazard.htm
[11] Paracelsus: Dose Response. in the Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology WILLIAM C KRIEGER / Academic Press Oct01. Robert Krieger, ed. University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, U.S.A. http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Paracelsus-Dose-ToxicologyOct01.htm
[12] Research Needs for the Risk Assessment of Health and Environmental Effects of Endocrine Disruptors: A Report of the U.S. EPA-sponsored Workshop Environmental Health Perspectives, v.104, s.4, Aug96 http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/RJ-Kavlock-et-al-Aug96.htm
[13] What Are Endocrine Disruptors? Paul Goettlich 2jul03 http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/EDs-PWG-16jun01.htm
[14] Telephone conversation with Ernest Sternglass, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Radiological Physics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School has written numerous articles on the health effects of low-level radiation. He is Director and Chief Technical  Officer of the RPHP Baby Teeth Study [www.rphp.org].
[15] Leuren Moret Speaking on Depleted Uranium in Los Altos, California 21apr03 http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2003/DU-Leuren-Moret21apr03.htm
[16] As evidenced by strontium-90 being detected by the Tooth Fairy Project in many thousands of baby teeth http://www.radiation.org/envelope.html
[17] CAS Registry Numbers for new compounds and assistance with nomenclature can be obtained by writing to Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Client Services, 2540 Olentangy River Road, P.O. Box 3343, Columbus, OH 43210, or by visiting their website at http://www.cas.org
[18] Today’s date: 9 October 2003
[19] Formula: 2^n - n - 1 This is called a factorial. Dr. Bruce Sagan, a mathematician at Michigan State University, did the calculation. Example: where 2^n means 2 to the power n. So, for example, when n = 10 then there are 2^10 - 10 - 1 = 1024 - 11 = 1013. This formula accounts for duplications such as 1,2,3 = 1,3,2 = 2,3,1 = 2,1,3 = 3,1,2 =  3,2,1
[20] 21 CFR § 177.1580 Polycarbonate Resins. Code of Federal Regulations rev.1apr03 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/PC/21CFR177.1580-Polycarbonate-1apr03.htm
[21] Bisphenol-A (BPA) For Doctors and Dentists. Paul Goettlich 7may02 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plasticizers/Bisphenol-A-For-Doctors-Dentists.htm
[22] Determination of Bisphenol A and Related Aromatic Compounds Released from Bis-GMA-Based Composites and Sealants by High Performance Liquid Chromatography Environmental Health Perspectives v.108, n.1, Jan00 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Bisphenol-A-Aromatic-Compounds.htm
[23] http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/5-Gallon-Water-Jugs.htm
[24] Food For Thought: What’s Coming Out of Baby¹s Bottle? Janet Raloff / Science News 31jul99 v.156, n.5 http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Babys-Bottle-Roloff.htm also see: http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plasticizers/BPA-Baby-BottlesJul03.htm
[25] Baby Alert: New Findings about Plastics Consumer Reports Special Report 21apr99 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Baby-Bottles-CU21apr99.htm
[26] BPA and Plastic Lab Animal Cages When Disaster Strikes: Rethinking Caging Materials Lab Animal v.32, n.4, Apr03 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plasticizers/BPA-Lab-Animal-CagesApr03.htm
Also see: Bisphenol A Exposure Causes Meiotic Aneuploidy in the Female Mouse Current Biology, v.13, 1apr03 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plasticizers/BPA-Mouse1apr03.htm
[27] Bisphenol-A: an estrogenic substance is released from polycarbonate flasks during autoclaving Endocrinology 132(6):2277-8 Jun93 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/BPA-Polycarbonate-Flasks.htm
[28] Terry Hassold and Patricia Hunt. To Err (meiotically) Is Human: The Genesis of Human Aneuploidy Nature Reviews Genetics 2, 280 -291 (2001); V.2, n.4 Apr01 http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nrg/journal/v2/n4/abs/nrg0401_280a_fs.html
Also see: Bisphenol A Exposure Causes Meiotic Aneuploidy in the Female Mouse Current Biology, v.13, 1apr03 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plasticizers/BPA-Mouse1apr03.htm
[29] Patau Syndrome - Robert G Best, PhD, Director, Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Genetics, University of South Carolina School of Medicine - eMedicine.com http://author.emedicine.com/ped/topic1745.htm
[30] Edwards syndrome - Harold Chen, MD, MS, FAAP, FACMG, Chief, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Perinatal Genetics, Louisiana State University Medical Center - eMedicine.com http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic652.htm
[31] Klinefelter syndrome - Harold Chen, MD, MS, FAAP, FACMG, Chief, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Perinatal Genetics, Louisiana State University Medical Center http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic1252.htm
[32] Campbell Biology 6th ed. http://webpages.marshall.edu/~adkinsda/B111OutlinesChromInhAlt.html Verified by personal conversation with author of the URL, Dr. Dean A. Adkins, a biology professor at Marshall University
[33] Cri-du-chat syndrome - Harold Chen, MD, MS, FAAP, FACMG, Chief, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Perinatal Genetics, Louisiana State University Medical Center. eMedicine.com http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic504.htm
[34] Alzheimer Disease - Jeffrey A Gunter, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Surgery, Division of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center. eMedince.com http://www.emedicine.com/aaem/topic12.htm
[35] Reproductive Science Center of the San Francisco Bay Area website 14oct03 http://www.rscbayarea.com/articles/pgd_indications.html
[36] Does Male Age Affect the Risk of Spontaneous Abortion? An Approach Using Semiparametric Regression - Am. J. Epidemiol. 2003 157: 815-824. 1may03 v.157, i.9 http://ifr69.vjf.inserm.fr/~web292/fer/Remyhtml/Slama5-2003-AmJEpidemiol.pdf
[37] Reproductive Malformation of the Male Offspring Following Maternal Exposure to Estrogenic Chemicals - Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 224:61-68 Jun00 http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Maternal-Exposure-Repro-Malform.htm
[38] The Xenoestrogen Bisphenol A Induces Inappropriate Androgen Receptor Activation and Mitogenesis in Prostatic Adenocarcinoma Cells - Molecular Cancer Therapeutics May 2002 http://mct.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/1/7/515
[39] Sakaue, M, S Ohsako, R Ishimura, S Kurosawa, M Kurohmaru, Y Hayashi, Y Aoki, J Yonemoto and C Tohyama. 2001. Bisphenol-A Affects Spermatogenesis in the Adult Rat Even at a Low Dose. Journal of Occupational Health 43:185 -190.
[40] A Synthetic Antagonist for the Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor Inhibits Adipocyte Differentiation - J Biol Chem, Vol. 275, Issue 3, 1873-1877, January 21, 2000. http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full/275/3/1873
[41] Rajapakse, N, D Ong and A Kortenkamp. 2001. Defining the Impact of Weakly Estrogenic Chemicals on the Action of Steroidal Estrogens. Toxicological Sciences 60: 296-304.  http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Estrogenic-Steroidal-EstrogensApr01.htm
[42] PPT presentation by James Tilton, PhD, Professor of Reproductive Physiology, Department of Animal & Range Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/jtilton/powerpointpresentations/gonadotropins.ppt
[43] Beverly S. Rubin et al. Perinatal Exposure to Low Doses of Bisphenol A Affects Body Weight, Patterns of Estrous Cyclicity, and Plasma LH Levels. Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 109, Number 7, July 2001 http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/members/2001/109p675-680rubin/rubin-full.html
[44] Email communication (9oct03) with Dr. Nicolas Olea, Dept. Radiologia y Medicina Fisica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, Granada 18071, Spain http://www.ugr.es/university.htm
[45] The Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle Rachel’s Environment & Health News n.586, 19feb98 http://www.mindfully.org/Precaution/Precautionary-Principle-Rachels.htm
[46] A comparison of plastic and plankton in the North Pacific central gyre - Marine Pollution Bulletin, v.42, n.12, Dec01 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Moore-North-Pacific-Central-Gyre.htm
[47] Email from Charles Moore, Director of the Algalita Marine research Foundation.
[48] I am an advisor to the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF) in Long Beach, CA www.algalita.org
[49] Plastic Resin Pellets as a Transport Medium for Toxic Chemicals in the Marine Environment - Environ. Sci. Technol. 2001, 35, 318-324 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Pellets-Transport-Medium.htm

We have spent about two years answering telephone inquiries at an environmental organization in Berkeley. A great number of the callers asked what the safest plastic to use in contact with food or water is. They also wanted to know what the safest plastic is to microwave food in. My answer was that plastic should never contact food. And that one should never microwave food — it’s probably as bad or worse than putting it in plastic because it creates free radicals in the food that damage cells in your body. It also heats the plastic, thus increasing the rate of migration into the food. That answer wasn’t popular with either the caller or the organization, which likes to point out positive alternatives. However, plastic is the alternative! And glass, wood, metal, and ceramics are the real things. Plastic is merely a foul imitation thereof. By using the least offensive plastic, one only prolongs and increases the toxic load on the Earth and in our bodies. If saving trees is your aim, stop using so much stuff. But in the mean time, don’t further degrade the environment with more plastic.While it’s impossible to avoid all plastics, we must rid our diets and lives of this toxic material as much as possible. There is a huge amount of data confirming the migration of plastic monomers and additives in all steps of food processing.[44] And in my opinion and that of many top research scientists, it is only a matter of time and money spent on new studies before the harm is found. Because of corporate political campaign financing, meaningful regulations resulting from studies will take even longer to become law. We must protect our families while the obvious results trickle in.Being one of many known endocrine disruptors, BPA affects development, intelligence, memory, learning, and behavior, skeleton, body size and shape, significant increase in prostate size, decreased epididymal weight and a longer anogenital distance,[37] prostate cancer, [38] reduced sperm count,[39] both physical and mental aspects of sexuality. It may have something to do with obesity,[40] and so many more that a separate article is required to list them all. In other words, if the fetus lives, any one or many parts of its body can be permanently affected. The problems may become evident at any age.

The reporter worked with a local dentist to order eight dental crowns (porcelain and full metal) from several labs in China, which were then sent to NSL Analytics in Cleveland for testing. One of the crowns tested positive for lead at 210 ppm. The story also includes information about a woman from Kent, Ohio, with a partial bridge that apparently tested positive for lead at 160 ppm. The woman apparently filed or will be filing a lawsuit, alleging that the bridge caused infection and swelling, which she attributes to the lead.

Product dangers from China regarding contamination are big in the media these days… witness the recent pet food and toy stories from 2007, so it’s important for you to be armed with the facts.

Here’s what we don’t know and need to find out:

* We don’t know whether this is an isolated incident or indicates a larger problem. We were surprised to learn that any dental prosthetic device might have lead in it.

* We understand that the lead was found in the surface of the crown, so our scientists suspect (but do not know for sure) that it could have come from the pigment. It’s also theoretically possible that the lead could have come through a soldering process or as a contaminant from the lab environment. Again, as noted above, lead should not be in any FDA-approved materials.

Needless to say, this is a very delicate issue. No one is more concerned about the possibility of lead contamination of dental products than dentists. On the other hand, we don’t want to overreact to what could be an isolated incident. For now, be armed with the facts… Ask your dentist if they outsource work to China. If they do, let them know about this, so they can find alternatives.

My Take: I just heard about this, so I’ll be adding more to this story later today… stay tuned