PLASTIC & MICROWAVE: Carcinogens - At 10,000,000 Times FDA Limits"

Plastic and the Microwave!  It's amazing what a curious student can
learn.  As a seventh grade student, Claire Nelson learned that
diethylhexyladepate (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?

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>           Three years later, with encouragement from her high school
science teacher, Claire had an idea for studying the effect of microwave radiation
on plastic-wrapped food, but 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.
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>            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.
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>            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 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.
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>       Carcinogens - At 10,000,000 Times FDA Limits"
>       Options May 2000.
>       Published by People Against Cancer, 515-972-4444.
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>           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.   On Channel
2 (Huntsville, AL) this morning they had a Dr.  Edward Fujimoto from Castle
Hospital on the program.  He is the manager of the Wellness Program at the
hospital.  He was talking about dioxins and how bad they are for us.  He said that
we should not be heating our food in the Microwave using plastic containers. 
This applies to foods that contain fat.  He said that the combination of fat,
high heat and plastics releases; dioxins into the food and ultimately into
the cells of the body.  Dioxins are carcinogens and highly toxic to the cells of
our bodies.  Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic
containers for heating food.  You get the same results without the dioxins.  So
such things as TV dinners, instant Ramen and soups, etc., should be removed
from the container and heated in something else.  Paper isn't bad but you don't
know what is in  the paper.  Just safer to use tempered glass,  Corning Ware,
etc.  He said we might remember when some of the fast food restaurants moved
away from the foam containers to paper.  The dioxin problem is one of the
reasons.  To add to this: Saran wrap placed over foods as they are nuked, with the
high heat, actually drips poisonous toxins into the food! Use a paper towel!