I received yet another message on dioxin from a member of my chat group dispelling the earlier notion that dioxin is released into water in the freezer and so on. Read on....
Researcher Dispels Myth of Dioxins and Plastic Water Bottles
The Internet has been flooded with email warnings to avoid freezing water in plastic bottles so as not to get exposed to carcinogenic dioxins. One hoax email has been erroneously attributed to Johns Hopkins University since the spring of 2004. The Office of Communications and Public Affairs discussed the issue with Rolf Halden, PhD, PE, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and the Center for Water and Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Halden received his masters and doctoral degrees researching dioxin contamination in the environment. We sat down with him to set the record straight on dioxins in the food supply and the risks associated with drinking water from plastic bottles and cooking with plastics.
Office of Communications and Public Affairs: What are dioxins?
Rolf Halden: Dioxins are organic environmental pollutants sometimes referred to as the most toxic compounds made by mankind. They are a group of chemicals, which include 75 different chlorinated molecules of dibenzo-p-dioxin and 135 chlorinated dibenzofurans. Some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) also are referred to as dioxin-like compounds. Exposure to dioxins can cause chloracne, a severe form of skin disease, as well as reproductive and developmental effects, and more importantly, liver damage and cancer.
OC&PA: Where do dioxins come from?
RH: We always thought dioxins were man-made compounds produced inadvertently during the bleaching of pulp and manufacturing of pesticides like Agent Orange and other chlorinated aromatics. But dioxins in sediments from lakes and oceans predate these human activities. It is now generally accepted that a principal source of dioxins are various combustion processes, including natural events such as wild fires and even volcanic eruptions.
Today, the critical issue is the incineration of waste, particularly the incineration of hospital waste, which contains a great deal of polyvinyl chloride plastics and aromatic compounds that can serve as dioxin precursors. One study examined the burning of household trash in drums in the backyard. It turns out that these small burnings of debris can put out as much or more dioxins as a full-sized incinerator burning hundreds of tons of refuse per day. The incinerators are equipped with state-of-the-art emission contr ols that limit dioxin formation and their release into the environment, but the backyard trash burning does not. You set it ablaze and chemistry takes over. What happens next is that the dioxins are sent into the atmosphere where they become attached to particles and fall back to earth. Then they bind to, or are taken up, by fish and other animals, where they get concentrated and stored in fat before eventually ending up on our lunch and dinner plates. People are exposed to them mostly from eating meat and fish rich in fat.
OC&PA: What do you make of this recent email warning that claims dioxins can be released by freezing water in plastic bottles?
RH: No. This is an urban legend. There are no dioxins in plastics. In addition, freezing actually works against the release of chemicals. Chemicals do not diffuse as readily in cold temperatures, which would limit chemical release if there were dioxins in plastic, and we don’t think there are.
OC&PA: So it’s okay for people to drink out of plastic water bottles?
RH: First, people should be more concerned about the quality of the water they are drinking rather than the container it’s coming from. Many people do not feel comfortable drinking tap water, so they buy bottled water instead. The truth is that city water is much more highly regulated and monitored for quality. Bottled water is not. It can legally contain many things we would not tolerate in municipal drinking water.
Having said this, there is another group of chemicals, called phthalates that are sometimes added to plastics to make them flexible and less brittle. Phthalates are environmental contaminants that can exhibit hormone-like behavior by acting as endocrine disruptors in humans and animals. If you heat up plastics, you could increase the leaching of phthalates from the containers into water and food.
OC&PA: What about cooking with plastics?
RH: In general, whenever you heat something you increase the likelihood of pulling chemicals out. Chemicals can be released from plastic packaging materials like the kinds used in some microwave meals. Some drinking straws say on the label “not for hot beverages.” Most people think the warning is because someone might be burned. If you put that straw into a boiling cup of hot coffee, you basically have a hot water extraction going on, where the chemicals in the straw are being extracted into your nice cup of coffee. We use the same process in the lab to extract chemicals from materials we want to analyze.
If you are cooking with plas tics or using plastic utensils, the best thing to do is to follow the directions and only use plastics that are specifically meant for cooking. Inert containers are best, for example heat-resistant glass, ceramics and good old stainless steel.
OC&PA: Is there anything else you want to add?
RH: Don’t be afraid of drinking water. It is very important to drink adequate amounts of water and, by the way that’s in addition to all the coffee, beer and other diuretics we love to consume. Unless you are drinking really bad water, you are more likely to suffer from the adverse e ffects of dehydration than from the minuscule amounts of chemical contaminants present in your water supply. Relatively speaking, the risk from exposure to microbial contaminants is much greater than that from chemicals.
And here’s one more uncomfortable fact. Each of us already carries a certain body burden of dioxins regardless of how and what we eat. If you look hard enough, you’ll find traces of dioxins in pretty much every place on earth. Paracelsus the famous medieval alchemist, used to put it straight and simple: it’s the dose that makes the poison.--
Tim Parsons
Public Affairs media contacts for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Tim Parsons or Kenna Lowe at 410-955-6878 or paffairs@jhsph.edu.
Having read the above and also my previous posting, which one is to be believed?? If one really wants to be on the safe side .... use glass containers.... Hmmm I wonder....
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Friday, March 31, 2006
Dioxin -
I read with trepidation certain news of the effects of dioxin to water stored in plastic bottles and the resultant effects to humans. A friend sent me the following:
Cancer update: Johns Hopkins = Cancer News from Johns Hopkins:
1. No plastic containers in microwave.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.
Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.
Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked 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 dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.
Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. 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. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc.
He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that Saran wrap is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.
Cover food with a paper towel instead
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
Cancer update: Johns Hopkins = Cancer News from Johns Hopkins:
1. No plastic containers in microwave.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.
Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.
Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked 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 dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.
Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. 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. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc.
He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that Saran wrap is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.
Cover food with a paper towel instead
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
"Senior Citizens" Visit The University
Recently a group of Senior Citizens, ex PETRONAS staff and retirees, visited University Technology PETRONAS (UTP) at the invitation of its Rector and CEO. This is the second time that I visited the University. The first time was when the complex was under construction and the University was operating in temporary buildings at the site. I was still working then. Now, after about 10 years the complex or campus is almost completed with the main buildings and facilities available. There should be more buildings constructed according to its master plan but these will be built in due time. In deed there are construction activities going on but these are at areas away from the main buildings.
The objective of the visit was for the Retirees Fraternity to have an overall view of the University, its development and progress to date and to see for themselves how the thoughts, ideas and plans that some of them had put in place for the University when they were still working in PETRONAS has materialized. A majority of those in the visiting group had in some way or other contributed to the existence and perhaps the development of the University. The visit was also to explore the possibility of having the Retirees share their experience(s) in their working life by returning to the campus giving lectures, or talks or contribute in whatever way possible to the development of the young minds in the campus. This aspect of the visit was highlighted by the Rector several times.
A 44 seater bus was provided by our host and our pick-up point was the parking lot of the KL main mosque (Masjid Wilayah). I was there early to ensure that ‘things’ that should happen, happen as required. All went as planned with nothing untoward. Heading the group was the President of the Retirees Fraternity. There were about thirty of us and a few came with their spouses, Ram included. We left the pick-up point at just after 9.00am and arrived at the gate of the university at just before 12.00 noon.
We were accorded a most hearty welcome and we could see that they were indeed well prepared for the visit. On approaching the gate of the University, a security outrider accompanied us leading the way to our first destination, where the Rector and his Management staff were waiting to greet and meet us. They had planned to take us around the site, visit the various facilities, the halls, resource centre, mosque, and a briefing on the development of the university.
The entrance to the University was a simple yet nicely arranged non-imposing gated structure but on driving up to the security control centre one would notice the mosque, the first building visible from the entrance, very imposing, whitewashed, domed at the front and full of pillars. It was surrounded on one side by a lake which I found out later was a double level cascading water design, man made out of the original mining pond. That was a unique design. From the distance and especially at night, with built in lights, the view would be of the mosque standing over the edge of a waterfall. There were also a lot of tall trees around such that the view of the main buildings in the campus as we approached the mosque was hidden by the trees.
We visited the Chancellors Complex, a very impressive huge building that houses the Resource centre, Administrative centre, Chancellors offices, Senate and Conference halls on one side of the complex and the Chancellors Hall on the other side. The resource centre is four levels of shelves that can hold about 500,000 books with large seating spaces also provided at each level together with IT facilities and other library equipment and resources. The Chancellors Hall is a movable stage and movable theatre-tiered seats hall large enough to seat about 3000 people (my estimate) and with the stage and the theatre seats retracted, the hall will be used for their exams sessions. We were also shown the engineering laboratories and the academic blocks all of which adjoins the main Chancellors building.
We were later brought on a tour of the whole site in the bus and viewed the academic blocks, the residences and other facilities. The campus stands in an area of 1000 acres much of which are greenery, very conducive to study and the interactivity of the minds. After viewing the complex, I said to myself how wonderful it would be to be able to go back to University and study with such nice facilities provided………… (I am comparing these facilities to what I was used to when I was a student hmmmm!!)
After a visit to the mosque and after prayers we left UTP to return to KL by the same bus arriving at the KL mosque at just after dusk prayers. It was an enjoyable trip. Everyone, I think, was satisfied that it was a good trip. Apart from viewing the facilities participants had an insight into how UTP function as engineering studies provider and the extent it stretches to its shareholder i.e. PETRONAS, to the community and also to the country in the provision of engineering skills and knowledge. I also think that the participants are willing to positively respond to the call by the Rector for Retirees to return to UTP and assist it with inputs for the ‘young minds’. The thing to do now is to identify how and what input is required from these Retirees. We will have to start working with the relevant officers of the university to identify these areas of input. Retirees may be free with all the time in the world but being retirees, to get them going may take some time. Hence an early start is what all are looking at….. I wonder if they are all looking at me (being the secretary of the Retirees Fraternity) to start ??…….. Hmmmm… I guess they are…
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
The objective of the visit was for the Retirees Fraternity to have an overall view of the University, its development and progress to date and to see for themselves how the thoughts, ideas and plans that some of them had put in place for the University when they were still working in PETRONAS has materialized. A majority of those in the visiting group had in some way or other contributed to the existence and perhaps the development of the University. The visit was also to explore the possibility of having the Retirees share their experience(s) in their working life by returning to the campus giving lectures, or talks or contribute in whatever way possible to the development of the young minds in the campus. This aspect of the visit was highlighted by the Rector several times.
A 44 seater bus was provided by our host and our pick-up point was the parking lot of the KL main mosque (Masjid Wilayah). I was there early to ensure that ‘things’ that should happen, happen as required. All went as planned with nothing untoward. Heading the group was the President of the Retirees Fraternity. There were about thirty of us and a few came with their spouses, Ram included. We left the pick-up point at just after 9.00am and arrived at the gate of the university at just before 12.00 noon.
We were accorded a most hearty welcome and we could see that they were indeed well prepared for the visit. On approaching the gate of the University, a security outrider accompanied us leading the way to our first destination, where the Rector and his Management staff were waiting to greet and meet us. They had planned to take us around the site, visit the various facilities, the halls, resource centre, mosque, and a briefing on the development of the university.
The entrance to the University was a simple yet nicely arranged non-imposing gated structure but on driving up to the security control centre one would notice the mosque, the first building visible from the entrance, very imposing, whitewashed, domed at the front and full of pillars. It was surrounded on one side by a lake which I found out later was a double level cascading water design, man made out of the original mining pond. That was a unique design. From the distance and especially at night, with built in lights, the view would be of the mosque standing over the edge of a waterfall. There were also a lot of tall trees around such that the view of the main buildings in the campus as we approached the mosque was hidden by the trees.
We visited the Chancellors Complex, a very impressive huge building that houses the Resource centre, Administrative centre, Chancellors offices, Senate and Conference halls on one side of the complex and the Chancellors Hall on the other side. The resource centre is four levels of shelves that can hold about 500,000 books with large seating spaces also provided at each level together with IT facilities and other library equipment and resources. The Chancellors Hall is a movable stage and movable theatre-tiered seats hall large enough to seat about 3000 people (my estimate) and with the stage and the theatre seats retracted, the hall will be used for their exams sessions. We were also shown the engineering laboratories and the academic blocks all of which adjoins the main Chancellors building.
We were later brought on a tour of the whole site in the bus and viewed the academic blocks, the residences and other facilities. The campus stands in an area of 1000 acres much of which are greenery, very conducive to study and the interactivity of the minds. After viewing the complex, I said to myself how wonderful it would be to be able to go back to University and study with such nice facilities provided………… (I am comparing these facilities to what I was used to when I was a student hmmmm!!)
After a visit to the mosque and after prayers we left UTP to return to KL by the same bus arriving at the KL mosque at just after dusk prayers. It was an enjoyable trip. Everyone, I think, was satisfied that it was a good trip. Apart from viewing the facilities participants had an insight into how UTP function as engineering studies provider and the extent it stretches to its shareholder i.e. PETRONAS, to the community and also to the country in the provision of engineering skills and knowledge. I also think that the participants are willing to positively respond to the call by the Rector for Retirees to return to UTP and assist it with inputs for the ‘young minds’. The thing to do now is to identify how and what input is required from these Retirees. We will have to start working with the relevant officers of the university to identify these areas of input. Retirees may be free with all the time in the world but being retirees, to get them going may take some time. Hence an early start is what all are looking at….. I wonder if they are all looking at me (being the secretary of the Retirees Fraternity) to start ??…….. Hmmmm… I guess they are…
MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya
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