Health Alert: Plastic Wrap, Oils, and Microwaves=
Carcinogens
As a seventh grade student, Claire Nelson learned that
di(ethylhexyl)adepate (DEHA), considered a carcinogen, is found in
plastic wrap. She also learned that the FDA had never studied the effect
of microwave cooking on plastic-wrapped food. Claire began to wonder:
"Can cancer-causing particles seep into food covered with household
plastic wrap while it is being microwaved?" Three years later, with
encouragement from her high school science teacher, Claire set out to
test what the FDA had not.
Although she had an idea for studying the effect of microwave radiation
on plastic-wrapped food, she did not have the equipment. Eventually, Jon
Wilkes at the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson,
Arkansas, agreed to help her. The research center, which is affiliated
with the FDA, let her use its facilities to perform her experiments,
which involved microwaving plastic wrap in virgin olive oil. Claire
tested four different plastic wraps and "found not just the
carcinogens but also xenoestrogen was migrating [into the oil]...."
Xenoestrogens are linked to low sperm counts in men and to breast cancer
in women. Throughout her junior and senior years Claire made a couple of
trips each week to the research center, which was 25 miles from her home,
to work on her experiment. An article in Options reported that "her
analysis found that DEHA was migrating into the oil at between 200 parts
and 500 parts per million. The FDA standard is 0.05 parts per
billion." Her summarized results have been published in science
journals.
Claire Nelson received the American Chemical Society's top science prize
for students during her junior year and fourth place at the International
Science and Engineering Fair (Fort Worth, Texas) as a senior.
"Carcinogens -- At 10,000,000 Times FDA Limits" Options May
2000. Published by People Against Cancer, 515-972-4444
_______________________
Scott MacLean
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
ICQ: 9184011
http://www.nerosoft.com
