steamer for cooking..dioxins?

[Guest guest]

i got rid of my microwave months ago. i often eat raw/fermented

foods, but sometimes i cook, and when i do, i sometimes use my

steamer. i thought i was doing something great for my health when i

bought the steamer, as i read that it's a healthy alternative to

traditional cooking. but one day i wondered about dioxins..i'm

worried that dioxins may be released into my foods every time i cook,

as the base is made of plastic. in fact the whole steamer is made of

plastic, but the base seems to be a slightly softer plastic, and it's

where the heating elemetn is. i'm curious who here uses a steamer,

and do you think that the steamer being made of plastic and subjected

to such high temperatures is cause for concern. i know the

manufacturers will say it's fine. but i keep coming across articles

warning of the dangers of dioxins which are released when plastics get

heated. i love how food comes out when i use my steamer.. but i am

hesitant to use it now.

 

would love to hear your thoughts. thanks.

 

vandana

[Guest guest]

, " vapurohit "

<vandana.purohit wrote:

>

> i got rid of my microwave months ago. i often eat raw/fermented

> foods, but sometimes i cook, and when i do, i sometimes use my

> steamer.

 

i read that it's a healthy alternative to traditional cooking. but

one day i wondered about dioxins..i'm worried that dioxins may be

released into my foods every time i cook, as the base is made of

plastic.

i keep coming across articles warning of the dangers of dioxins

which are released when plastics get heated. i love how food comes

out when i use my steamer.. but i am hesitant to use it now.

> would love to hear your thoughts. thanks.

> vandana

 

 

 

Hi Vandana,

 

The articles in question have obviously miscontrued any and all the

available info regarding dioxins to the extent that I believe you

deserve some clarification of the dangers involved and also more

information on where you should look for these dangerous

contaminants. Although I am not minimizing any of the dangers

involved from plastic utensils being utilized in high heat cooking,

it is ONLY the " manufacturing " and BURNING of plastics in the

chemical factories and local incinerators which create harmful

DIOXINS, releasing them slowly into our environment!

 

Dioxin is formed as an unintentional by-product of many industrial

processes involving chlorine such as waste incineration, chemical

and pesticide manufacturing and pulp and paper bleaching.

 

For plastics, it is primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is the

major offender.

 

During the last 20 years we have begun to burn household and

industrial trash and medical waste in mass-burn incinerators.

 

Results - given that we have " disposable " vinyl plastic all around

us - have led to a dramatic increase in dioxin contamination

everywhere in the U.S.

 

Dioxin, " formed " during " burning " , is carried for hundreds of miles

on tiny specks of fly-ash from the incinerators.

It settles on crops, which then get eaten by cows, steers, pigs, and

chickens. It contaminates lakes, streams, and the ocean.

 

Like the pesticides such as DDT, dioxin 'accumulates' in the fat

cells of the animals, and re-appears in meat and milk.

 

Dioxin is a general term that describes a group of hundreds of

chemicals that are highly persistent in the environment. The most

toxic compound is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or TCDD.

 

Since dioxin is fat-soluble, it bioaccumulates up the food chain and

is mainly (97.5%) found in meat and dairy products

(beef, dairy products, milk, chicken, pork, in that order.

 

In EPA's dioxin report, they refer to dioxin as " hydrophobic " .

 

This means that dioxin " avoids " other vegetation. Rather,Dioxin will

find animals to go in to, working its way to the top of the food

chain.

 

Dietary sources of dioxin

 

Beef 38.0

Dairy 24.1

Milk 17.6

Chicken 12.9

Pork 12.2

Inhalation 2.2

Soil .8

Water Negligible

 

To Avoid Dioxin - Do not eat beef, pork or Dairy, which have some

of the largest concentrations of dioxin of all food sources. Chicken

and turkey (free range) has the lowest dioxin content of all meats,

however the content of dioxin in chicken is still 'significant'.

 

Vegetarian meat substitutes such as organic tofu, beans, and rice

have essentially no contamination.

 

From phonograph records to automobile seat covers to wire insulation

to shampoo bottles to handbags to house siding to plumbing pipes to

wallpaper, we are literally

surrounded by " PVC " .

 

When these chemicals and plastics are " manufactured " or " burned " ,

dioxin is " produced " as an unwanted (but inevitable) by-product.

 

Avoid using Saran Wrap and similar " cling-type " plastic wraps

(unless they are clearly identified as non-chlorinated plastic.).

Wash all fruits and vegetables carefully to remove " chlorophenol

pesticide " residue.

Avoid grapes and raisins unless they are clearly labeled as organic

(grown without pesticides).

Avoid all products which have *cottonseed* oil as an ingredient

(such as potato chips), since cotton is often sprayed with

chlorophenol insecticides.

Moderator's Note: Cottonseed oil is genetically engineered as well.

 

Avoid all organic chemicals that have " chloro " as part of their

names (such as the wood preservative pentachlorophenol, which is

probably the most dioxin-contaminated household chemical).

 

Avoid chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and products containing

it. (Use oxygen bleach nstead).

Use unbleached paper products.

 

Do not use weed killers or insecticides that contain chlorine.

Especially avoid the chlorophenol weed killers, such as 2,4-D, found

in most fertilizer/weed killers and used by commercial lawn

services.

 

Avoid " Permethrin " flea sprays for pets.

 

Avoid household or personal products and toys made of or packaged in

polyvinyl chloride - PVC - labeled V or #3 plastic.

(For example, Beanie Babies are filled with PVC beads, which often

produce cancer-causing vinyl chloride fumes and are often

contaminated with dioxin.)

 

Do not use soaps containing tallow (most soaps), as it is made from

animal fat.

 

 

Avoid " deodorant " soaps and deodorants containing " triclosan, " a

chlorophenol.

 

For about 40 years we have seen a dramatic increase in the

manufacture and use of chlorinated organic chemicals and plastics.

 

For chemicals, it was insecticides and herbicides (weed killers).

 

Men has no ways to get rid of dioxin other than letting it break

down according to its chemical half-lives.

Women, on the other hand, have two ways which it can exit their

bodies: It crosses the placenta... into the growing infant;

It is present in the fatty breast milk,which is also a route of

exposure which doses the infant, making breast-feeding for non-

vegetarian mothers quite hazardous.

 

Dioxin is virtually indestructible in most environments, and is

excreted by the body extremely slowly.

 

 

Copies of the EPA Health Assessment report may be obtained by

contacting: CERI/ORD Publications Center

USEPA 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive Cincinnati, OH 45268 (513) 569-

7562; fax (513) 569-7566. EPA's Scientific Advisory Board has

completed its reassessment of dioxin. To get copies of the dioxin

report, contact Sam Rondberg at the EPA at (202) 260-2559. The final

report issued by the Health and Exposures

Panels of the Science Advisory Board regarding the dioxin

reassessment is now available.

 

Get your copy by calling the SAB at: 202-260-8414, or

fax: 202-260-1889. Environmental Research Foundation's RACHEL's

Environment & Health Weekly Issues

 

 

Best Regards,

JoAnn

[Guest guest]

, " vapurohit "

<vandana.purohit wrote:

>

> i got rid of my microwave months ago. i often eat raw/fermented

> foods, but sometimes i cook, and when i do, i sometimes use my

> steamer. i thought i was doing something great for my health when

i bought the steamer, as i read that it's a healthy alternative to

> traditional cooking. but one day i wondered about dioxins..i'm

> worried that dioxins may be released into my foods every time i

cook, as the base is made of plastic. in fact the whole steamer is

made of plastic, but the base seems to be a slightly softer

plastic, and it's where the heating elemetn is. i'm curious who

here uses a steamer, and do you think that the steamer being made

of plastic and subjected to such high temperatures is cause for

concern. would love to hear your thoughts. thanks.

> vandana

 

 

The viable alternative appears to be a 'stainless steel' steamer

basket. The article is found here...

 

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Alternatives/Alternatives-Plastic-

Goettlich3aug05.htm