Is Plastic Making Us Fat?

By Rachel Cernansky, Planet Green

Hormone-mimicking chemicals that already have a bad rap for their role as endocrine disruptors in the body (including the notorious bisphenol A (BPA)), are now thought to also screw with the body’s metabolism and, depending on the amount and timing of exposure, predispose individuals to obesity.

We’re surrounded by these chemicals: BPA and pthalates are everywhere, from water bottles to dryer sheets to the PVC pipes that deliver your shower water, and they’re taking their toll. Call them obesogens–a term coined by Bruce Blumberg, a leading researcher on the issue. A recent Newsweek story illustrates the increasing body of evidence that links these chemicals to the body’s metabolism.

The problem is two-fold: in developing fetuses and newborn babies, the compounds turn precursor (undeveloped) cells into fat cells, and they may also interfere with the body’s metabolic rate even later on, driving the body to store calories rather than burn them.

How?

No one’s blaming these compounds for the entire obesity epidemic in the United States–fast food and lack of exercise are not off the hook–but emerging research points to obesogens as one cause of the unexplained tendency for some individuals to gain weight no matter what (or how little) they eat or how much they exercise. Obesogens seem to have the ability to disrupt the fundamental rule of weight management and body chemistry: weight gain occurs when calorie consumption exceeds the amount of energy burned. A potential explanation is that the compounds disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm and may cause weight gain by, for example, programming the body’s clock to eat when it should be sleeping.

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Dale O.

8:24AM PDT on Jul 31, 2012

Interesting, but it is unlikely this contributes to making one fat, just more toxic poisoning in our lives.

July 31
send a green star

Margaret M. F.

5:51PM PDT on Jul 9, 2012

Thank-you for the interesting article.

July 9
send a green star

3:05PM PDT on Jul 9, 2012

Useful information.

Cynthia H.

10:45AM PDT on Jul 8, 2012

Scary because I drink tea all day long from plastic bottles that I use over and over (to help cut down on waste.) Seems I need to find a resusable metal container.