We are a product of our environment which is chemically-based. There has always been a trade-off with paper (dioxin exposures) and plastics (biphenols). The list of chemical exposure that we 'tolerate' for the sake of conveniences is lengthy but a few of the worst ones are for our power-harnessing (nuclear, coal, oil).

I guess I better get rid of my food processor with its polycarbonate bowl before my memory gets any worse. All the time I thought being around for 77 years was the cause. Al

Makes you wonder about the new line of plastic bakeware on the market. I still would be more concerned with the trans fats and food preservatives in all that junk food we eat.

Al, you remind me of the time our most famous Penn. resident was ambassador to the Court of St. James (London). Although almost everybody else drank tea, Ben Franklin kept to his coffee. One afternoon at tea time, one society matron observed him drinking coffee and sidled over to comment. "That" she sniffed (pointing at the coffee), "is nothing but a slow poison."
"It certainly must be" he replied. (He was about 80 yrs. old at the time.)

Dihydrogen Monoxide has been killing people for years. Accidental inhalation is a serious threat. Yet our government not only has never tried to eliminate its use, it has pipelines running this stuff all over the place. Even the department of defense has tried to utilize it to improve the Navy's ability to wage war. You should write your congressman to see what he or she knows about this dangerous chemical and what they are going to do about it.

So, don't put your greenhouse in the microwave oven.

Seems everything we eat, inhale or touch causes cancer, breathing problems or skin rashes etc. etc.

As the saying goes, we are all gonna die from something!

This seems to be a new variation on the urban legend about reused plastic bottles causing health problems. Just because you can find a Web site that supports a particular point of view doesn't make it so. All of this stuff is supposed to be so bad for us, and yet the average life expectancy in our country is higher than it has ever been. Al, my mom is 91, and she hasn't thrown out all of her plastic either! As for her memory....she remembers to yell at me when I don't do something she tells me too, just like when I was a kid.

Eleanor

There is a big difference between food in contact with a polycarbonate container and vegetable plants in an enclosure composed of polycarbonate (but not touching it). So even if this was a "heath hazard" the hazard resulting from your greenhouse would be near zero.

As for beverage bottles (soda, juice, water, etc), those are made of PTFE, not polycarbonate. I know you can buy polycarbonate drinking glasses, but very few food containers are made of polycarbonate. It's too expensive to justify its use in that application. You're more likely to see it used in products like safety glasses, which require high impact strength.

This is a little off subject but....Poycarbonate panels and mosquito repellant (Deep Woods w DEET) do not mix. I have seen the results of mistakingly spraying repellant on the greenhouse covering. It destroys it withjin a day. It turns milky then cracks.

Yes, woodworm. You have to use DEET in Canada and Alaska when fishing, but if you do not rinse off your hands, you can melt your reel handles, especially with that bottled stuff that is 95% DEET.

Tom

chinamigarden-Good one. H2O.

I haven't read all the posts in detail, but as a health care professional, I look at many of these new reports of "dangerous" chemicals and products with a mixture of concern and amusement. Certainly the public must keep the pressure on our industries and government to keep us safe from hazardous chemicals. Having said that, look at the big killers. Cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, accidents. The overwhelming majority of these problems are related to personal choices like smoking, obesity, stupidity. If you eat right, dont smoke and drink in moderation, you will live for ever (assuming you chose your parents properly and have good genes). When I see some folks over the age of 90, I think I'd rather be dead.

Wait till your 90 and then say that. Assuming your in good health.

I have several friends in their 90s living the good life. Of course they are neither obese nor smokers. Al

I never dreamed this thread would last so long! I posted it pretty much as a caveat for the most part. I was concerned that temperatures can get way over 125 degrees in the gh if I forget to open the vents. There have been a number of subsequent articles on this and all say that the high temperature part is much lower than melting temperature. There have been many times I have gone into a 100+ degree greenhouse and notices a strange smell that certainly did not seem organic. All in all, I was concerned that my consumable plants like veggie & catnip for the kitties might pick up some of the chemcials.

Whatever - for those jeeze I find it amusing people, if you are older than 45, remember ddt and the malathion mosquito fog we used to play in when the mosquito truck came around. Anyway, the subject is starting to snowball. Too bad the UK takes notice and the USA doesn't. How ironic that all the info on this is coming out of the USA and our media is virtually ignoring it.

X

Here is a link that might be useful: Scientists link plastic food containers with breast cancer