Making My Home BPA Free

       It's a goal. I want my home to be free of BPA which stands for  bisphenol A which is an industrial chemical used to make some plastics and resins. There is a possibility that anything plastic, especially items used with food products, could contain BPA. What are the dangers of BPA? 
   When the body takes in BPA, it interprets the BPA as a hormone like estrogen. The elements that make up BPA seem similar to estrogen and can affect the body. There is still testing going on and if a person has a choice of having BPA or not, it is definitely better to not have it.
   BPA is found in water bottles, the linings of tin cans, and cash register receipts to start with. Water and juice bottles have a number on them which is a code that reveals the safety of the bottle in relation to BPA. Here is a web page from the Mayo clinic on BPA: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bpa/AN01955
  So, what kind of measures can you and I take to make our homes and environment as BPA free as possible? One thing is to stay away from plastics with food. This is easier said than done. Most of our processed food has some kind of contact with plastic. I am going to use stainless steel cups and straws. On the sidebar of this page is a picture of the stainless steel straws. Clicking the picture on will bring you to amazon.com which is where I ordered my set from. 
   Another good alternative is glass, although glass is fragile and does break. Amazon.com also has glass straws available. I am looking for BPA free ice cube trays too. Some of my cooking appliances are made of plastic. I am not sure that everything that is plastic has BPA though. BPA seems to become released in the heat, so don't leave water bottles in the hot car!
   Also, be sure to wash your hands after handling a cash register receipt! Who would have thought that BPA would be on cash register receipts? I am not sure that all cash register receipts have BPA, but it is better to be safe than sorry!
   Here is another web site on BPA with more information:
http://www.hhs.gov/safety/bpa/