The modern era has sometimes been called the Age of Plastic. Indeed, it is difficult to avoid this almost ubiquitous synthetic material. The threat of indoor air pollution from plastics comes mainly from the “plasticizers” added to make such substances soft, flexible, or resilient. As a general rule, the more easily you can bend a plastic, the more potentially dangerous it is to your health. Another way to sense danger is with your nose: the more odorous the plastic, the more these plasticizers are slipping into the environment.
Hard plastics, such as the older Bakelite and Formica, are, accordingly, rarely incriminated as the cause of chronic illness. The worst offenders are soft materials, such as the plastic used in pillow and mattress cases, upholstery materials, shoes and handbags, and so forth. Naugahyde has been particularly troublesome for some patients. Plastic brushes, combs, powder cases, shoes, and other articles of clothing also occasionally become the source of chronic health problems in patients.
Flexible plastics used in the storage of refrigerated food are particularly menacing. One young child was brought to me for skin problems. It turned out that his mother was a salesperson for a well-known brand of plastic containers. She was shocked when I blamed this product for contributing to her son’s skin problems. Elimination of the plastic containers, however, brought a dramatic improvement in his rash, and this woman soon sought another line of work.
*38\110\2*
