Eco Comment – Plastic-Free July Part 2

For this week’s Eco Comment I had been going to write about my holiday but I got an email this morning which disturbed me and subsequently changed my plans. This email was closely followed by another one from ‘Down to Earth @theguardian’ and included an article about the same subject. PFAS!

So, PFAS or ‘Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances’ are a ‘large, complex group of synthetic chemicals that have been used in consumer products around the world since the 1950s’. They are also sometimes referred to as ‘Forever Chemicals’. This nickname brings the truth of the problem into a clearer focus. I was shocked to discover the extent to which the world is subject to their presence in almost everything we eat and drink.

At first it was like reading science fiction or a form of Hollywood movie ‘scaremongering’ but sadly it’s very much a true story and as the Guardian article states ‘it’s very difficult to avoid or eliminate [them] from our diet’. Whilst much of the research appears to have been done in the USA, the chemicals are obviously in our UK food chain, not least because we import so many food stuffs from the USA and around the world.

Strangely this followed a long conversation yesterday about food and how our diet affects our wellbeing. I was shown an app which can tell you if, by scanning a barcode, the product is ‘good for you’ or has lots of additives in it. Yes, I know we can read the ingredients and use our intelligence but the producers of our supermarket shop are ahead of us and regularly use abbreviations or almost code names for those ingredients they don’t want us to recognise. Do you remember all the media hype about ‘E’ numbers and colourings in food?

Needless to say, the research evidence shows that these PFAS are more likely to be found in processed foods which makes me want to cook everything from scratch and hope to beat them that way. However, because they are also present in things like fertiliser and subsequently appear in eggs, vegetables and even water we’re just going to have to be more aware and hope that by reducing our exposure to them we can protect our health.

And finally as if the 2 emails weren’t enough to make me question my food habits and use of plastics, I saw an advert for a metal chopping board. I’d never considered this before but the advert showed how every time we cut something on a plastic chopping board microscopic fragments of that material gets into the food. It’s obvious really but not something that had registered in the ‘this might not be good for you’ type thought. In my kitchen I have both wooden and plastic boards. Both need cleaning thoroughly and I suppose, like so many other people you buy what’s on the market. You follow the ads and go for ease and convenience. Maybe the
time has come for us all to use our heads and not follow the advertisers.

You might not have managed to reduce the amount of plastic that you’ve used in ‘Plastic Free July’ but hopefully you’re more aware of the issues that affect us all no matter where we live and so can make better choices in the ‘stuff’ that we buy. Hopefully you’re not but if you are affected by Eco Anxiety as a result of reading this Eco Comment please talk about it. The more we share our thoughts and feelings the more we as consumers can act together and make change happen.

Susan Morgan
Eco Group