Comments on: Navel Gazing about Plastic http://encyclopediabrittanica.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/navel-gazing-about-plastic/ Wed, 20 May 2009 20:48:45 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Beth Terry http://encyclopediabrittanica.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/navel-gazing-about-plastic/#comment-155 Beth Terry Mon, 19 Nov 2007 09:42:20 +0000 http://encyclopediabrittanica.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/navel-gazing-about-plastic/#comment-155 Wow. Christina's comment is really, really interesting. That's the kind of first-hand information that's great to have. What field is Christina in? And Britta, thanks for mentioning my site! Wow. Christina’s comment is really, really interesting. That’s the kind of first-hand information that’s great to have. What field is Christina in?

And Britta, thanks for mentioning my site!

]]> By: Britta http://encyclopediabrittanica.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/navel-gazing-about-plastic/#comment-150 Britta Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:59:19 +0000 http://encyclopediabrittanica.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/navel-gazing-about-plastic/#comment-150 Farrah, that is a great article. I read it awhile ago, but the second reading really sunk in. Christina, that is fascinating. You will soon need to become a guest blogger and we can move your comments to the front page. Posts will be titled "Live from the Science Front" or something like that:) Farrah, that is a great article. I read it awhile ago, but the second reading really sunk in.

Christina, that is fascinating. You will soon need to become a guest blogger and we can move your comments to the front page. Posts will be titled “Live from the Science Front” or something like that:)

]]> By: Farrah http://encyclopediabrittanica.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/navel-gazing-about-plastic/#comment-149 Farrah Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:39:47 +0000 http://encyclopediabrittanica.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/navel-gazing-about-plastic/#comment-149 After reading the attached article, I looked around my apartment and realized everything is made of plastic. I always felt so good about my efforts to recycle, especially plastic, but now I want to find ways to avoid buying it in the first place. I enjoy reading about your efforts to live a green life! http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/health-fitness/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we_2_printer.shtml After reading the attached article, I looked around my apartment and realized everything is made of plastic. I always felt so good about my efforts to recycle, especially plastic, but now I want to find ways to avoid buying it in the first place.

I enjoy reading about your efforts to live a green life!

http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/health-fitness/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we_2_printer.shtml

]]> By: Christina http://encyclopediabrittanica.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/navel-gazing-about-plastic/#comment-148 Christina Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:36:50 +0000 http://encyclopediabrittanica.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/navel-gazing-about-plastic/#comment-148 One of my favorite experiences so far in grad school was when my mentor invited Pat Hunt to give a seminar for our department and I got to take her to breakfast. Pat was in my mentor's post-doc department at Case Western, but has since moved to Washington State U. Anyway, she's the person who discovered that washing certain types of plastic with the wrong detergent causes an environmental estrogen, bisphenol A (BPA), to leach out of the plastic. It was completely by accident that her lab discovered this. They were studing cell division with a mouse model and suddenly the mice that had been perfectly fine were starting to get aneuploid cells(wrong number of chromosomes, a precursor to cancer). They couldn't figure out what happened until finally, after months and months of searching, they looked at the water bottles the mice had been drinking out of. What had once been perfectly clear plastic bottles were all corroded. They traced it back to the animal quarters switching detergent to something more stringent months before. When they tested the water the mice were drinking from those bottles, they found BPA. After more tests, they determined that was the cause of the aneuploidy. Anyway, it was really interesting to hear her side of the story, especially what happened next. When they published their first paper on BPA and aneuploidy, she went from being a scientist to being a public spokesperson overnight. She was all over the place - the Today Show, etc. - and the plastics industry was NOT HAPPY. They tried to do all sorts of studies to refute her research, but it has stood the test of time. Now, all sorts of other harmful chemicals have been found to leach out of plastics, but Pat's research was on the forefront. It was so interesting to sit down and talk about all that she went through - and it is especially interesting (to me, anyway) how this discovery, like penicillin, was completely unintentional. One of my favorite experiences so far in grad school was when my mentor invited Pat Hunt to give a seminar for our department and I got to take her to breakfast. Pat was in my mentor’s post-doc department at Case Western, but has since moved to Washington State U. Anyway, she’s the person who discovered that washing certain types of plastic with the wrong detergent causes an environmental estrogen, bisphenol A (BPA), to leach out of the plastic. It was completely by accident that her lab discovered this. They were studing cell division with a mouse model and suddenly the mice that had been perfectly fine were starting to get aneuploid cells(wrong number of chromosomes, a precursor to cancer). They couldn’t figure out what happened until finally, after months and months of searching, they looked at the water bottles the mice had been drinking out of. What had once been perfectly clear plastic bottles were all corroded. They traced it back to the animal quarters switching detergent to something more stringent months before. When they tested the water the mice were drinking from those bottles, they found BPA. After more tests, they determined that was the cause of the aneuploidy. Anyway, it was really interesting to hear her side of the story, especially what happened next. When they published their first paper on BPA and aneuploidy, she went from being a scientist to being a public spokesperson overnight. She was all over the place – the Today Show, etc. – and the plastics industry was NOT HAPPY. They tried to do all sorts of studies to refute her research, but it has stood the test of time. Now, all sorts of other harmful chemicals have been found to leach out of plastics, but Pat’s research was on the forefront. It was so interesting to sit down and talk about all that she went through – and it is especially interesting (to me, anyway) how this discovery, like penicillin, was completely unintentional.

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