When I was single, one highlight of each week was sitting down for Thursday night TV (Remember “Friends” and “ER”??) with an icy cold can of Coca-Cola and a bag of freshly popped microwave popcorn.
Oh, how my life has changed. I’ve cut out soda pop – except on rare occasions – and now I pop my popcorn on the stovetop. (Actually, Prince Charming does it for me, because he’s the Best Popcorn Popper in our home.)
I made the switch from microwave bags to plain old popcorn when I was pregnant, because I didn’t know what was in the flavoring – or the bag. Plus, it was a lot cheaper to buy plain old popcorn kernels. And it tasted so much more authentic.
It turns out I made a fantastic switch, because microwave popcorn bags are coated in Teflon. And, as I explained on Monday, Teflon is the manmade chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). It builds up as a body burden and is linked to developmental effects, breast cancer, testicular cancer, heart attacks, and stroke. PFOA also is commonly found in blood and breast milk samples. PFOA is supposed to be phased out of products by 2015.
So, if you’re trying to NOT be green – and hurt yourself, your family, and the environment in the process – go ahead and keep munching your microwave popcorn. Each bag has to be disposed in the landfill, plus it’s coated in Teflon.
Photo credit
KROMKRATHOG/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Today, I’m linking up with:
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Not all microwave popcorn brands use Teflon. They have to phase it out in a few years anyway, so many have already made the switch.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012502041.html
I do microwave my popcorn but I DON’T use the store bought stuff- YUCK! I don’t like the artificial processed flavors and you can save tons of money by microwaving your own in a bowl or plain paper bag!
Thank you for sharing this with the many that aren’t aware of the problems (even just the ones with the microwave)! I’m new to your blog. Thanks for sharing…Do you ever link-up? I’d invite you to do so on the ‘EOA’ link-up at Deep Roots At Home if so :)Blessings!
Jacqueline,
I’m so glad you’ve found Accidentally Green! I discovered Deep Roots At Home through Women Living Well a few weeks ago and LOVE it. Your writing and photos are so uplifting and inspiring. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with readers!
I am stopping by from WLW and I am your new follower! I loved this post. I am making “baby steps” in cutting out the bad stuff. It’s sad that we were ever exposed to things like PFOA in the first place!