Four for Friday

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The Health Edition

Q1 - BPA: A chemical commonly found in baby bottles, can linings, and household products does not pose a health hazard when used in food containers, according to a draft assessment released by the Food and Drug Administration. Bisphenol A, commonly abbreviated as BPA, is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. The FDA report stands in contrast to more than 100 studies performed by government scientists and university laboratories that have found health concerns associated with BPA. Some have linked the chemical to prostate and breast cancers, diabetes, behavioral disorders such as hyperactivity, and even reproductive problems in lab animals. Exposure to the small amounts of BPA that migrate from the containers into the food they hold are not dangerous to infants or adults, the FDA said. Had you heard about the BPA issue before reading this question? If so, is it something you're concerned about?

I was. I work with someone who was freaking COMPLETELY out when the news broke. Like her, I have replaced my plastic water bottle with a Swiss-made aluminum one.

Q2 - Rub it On: According to a new study by researchers at Rutgers University, several commonly used skin creams may cause skin tumors. Researchers stumbled across the findings after they exposed hairless mice to ultraviolet radiation to mimic sun exposure. Afterward, they applied four popular moisturizers to the mice. What they found was that all four -- Dermabase, Dermavan, Eucerin and Vanicream -- caused tumors to grow on the mice. The cancers were not melanomas, the researchers said in their report, but another type called squamous cell carcinoma. This type of cancer results when cells in the skin start to change, the National Institutes of Health said on its Web site. It's relatively slow-growing and can spread to other locations, including internal organs. Knowing about this research, will you now avoid using Dermabase, Dermavan, Eucerin and Vanicream? If you never use these products, would you take the time to alert your family and friends who do?

I had not heard this one. Ironically, I have had multiple doctors recommend Eucerin for chronic dry skin. Glad I couldn't stand the feel of it and went with Curel instead! I might mention it to my sister, who does use Eucerin for eczema.

Q3 - Drinking: In 1984, Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which imposed a penalty of 10% of a state's federal highway appropriation on any state setting its drinking age lower than 21. Today, nearly 100 chancellors and presidents from colleges and universities across the U.S. are asking lawmakers to consider lowering the federally mandated minimum drinking age to 18, saying the current law encourages dangerous binge drinking on campus. The movement called the Amethyst Initiative began quietly recruiting presidents more than a year ago to provoke national debate about the drinking age, and now includes the leaders of Johns Hopkins University, Syracuse University, University of the Incarnate Word, Tufts, Duke, Colgate, Maine Maritime Academy, Kenyon, Morehouse, Dartmouth, College of Idaho and Ohio State, just to name a few. Do you agree with the Amethyst Initiative? Should the drinking age be lowered to 18 or is the law okay as it current stands?

I'm ok with this. I turned 18 in 1982, was grandfathered in when they raised the drinking age to 19 the following year, and was again grandfathered in 1984.

I think that kids are going to drink because we've made alcohol this huge Thing, and because they feel indestructible. I also think that when we can entrust 18-year-olds with armaments and send them overseas, we can't say they are too immature to drink. Furthermore, for most people, there is no way to learn how to drink responsibility without access to alcohol.

Ultimately, it's the same conversation as sex: kids are going to do it, some kids are going to be abysmally irresponsible, a few kids will pay dear consequences, but take a look at their older role models. Are they (we) doing any better, really?

By the way, I think pot should be legalized, too.

Q4 - You: Generally speaking, how concerned are you about your own health? Not concerned at all; somewhat/slightly concerned; about average; more than slightly concerned; very concerned; something else entirely?

I'm about average.