Bad Plastic: It's Practically Everywhere

It's in everything from baby bottles to coffee makers to CDs, and research is accumulating, as Salon's Elizabeth Grossman puts it, that it's a major health hazard. Bisphenol A is a key ingredient of the lightweight plastics now ubiquitous in consumer products, and it's been variously linked to reproductive health, obesity, cancer and neurological disorders.

The makers of Bisphenol A say there is no known hazard to humans, Grossman reports, but 95% of people tested by the CDC had levels of the chemical high enough to cause abnormalities in animals. And she cites a researcher who says it has adverse effects in "phenomenally small amounts," especially on developing fetuses and babies. Legislation to block the chemical’s sale has been introduced widely. (More product safety stories.)