Is it healthy to drink filtered watercolours and how I reduce the exposure to BPA and other chemicals?

Since setting up my own business I’ve done a lot of research about what is healthy and what better to avoid. For instance, chemicals like bisphenol a (BPA) are extremely unhealthy. BPA is an industrial chemical which is often used in plastic products (e.g. baby bottles, toys, food cans) and can cause health problems. To read more about BPA and its consequences please have a look at our news section.

Now, as a response, I did a lot to reduce my and my family’s exposure to BPA over the last year (since dealing with the whole BPA topic):

First of all I’ve thrown away all my non BPA free plastic bowls and bottles, especially the baby bottles. I only kept the BPA free ones. I was told that Tupperware is BPA free so I kept those as well. I am now trying to avoid buying plastic things in general. I go for stainless steel products when taking the kids out and I use glass at home. If you can’t replace your plastic household products, at least make sure you never warm them up e.g. in the microwave as they might release BPA.

Additionally I have done quite a bit of research and reading about food products in general. As a result, I am not buying any canned food any more. Instead we are eating fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables which are also healthier. They usually have more nutrients than canned foods and taste better anyway. My kids miss the canned baked beans, though. Currently, I am trying to find a brand that sells them in a glass container.

I am also avoiding using Aluminium cookware when preparing our food as Aluminium is suspected to be linked to Alzheimer. Furthermore, I am currently looking into products to store leftovers in an eco-friendly reusable way instead of using aluminium foil.

Most recently, as a Londoner, I started reading up on the quality of water in London. To cut to the chase: I recently bought a water jug that filters our tap water. I explained my kids that it cleans the water and that there won’t be any dirt in it (my kids are too young to understand terms like pesticides etc.) before I fill up their stainless steel water bottles for school. Now what happened this week is that my 6 year old son did some artworks with watercolours. The water he used turned dark. Now his clever idea was to pour it into my newly bought water jug to get the water cleaned so that he can reuse it for his watercolours. A thoughtful idea but now I am not sure if I can still drink the water or better get a new filter. I was wondering whether I should read up on this one as well or just write it off as an investment in my kids and go for a new one…

Have a wonderful Christmas and I hope to see you next week!

Dani

Blog post "Is it healthy to drink filtered watercolours and how I reduce the exposure to BPA and other chemicals?" on 20th Dec. 2011