Leachable Xenoestrogen Contaminants in Commonly Used Plastics and How High School Students Feel About This

Potential health risks are associated with plastic use, one of which is the inadvertent consumption of the xenoestrogen contaminants Bisphenol A and phthalates.Xenoestrogens include industrial compounds that are byproducts of plastic manufacturing, and they are known to have development-altering potential.The purpose of this project was to (1) qualitatively analyze commonly used plastic food and drink containers for xenoestrogen content and to (2) use a survey to educate high school students about the scientific knowledge concerning the potential health risks of xenoestrogens.The Experimental component of this project analyzed the presence or absence of xenoestrogens in water and isopropanol extractions of the plastic samples.In the survey, high school students were queried before and after discussing the experimental data to assess whether the knowledge was likely to decrease individual plastic consumption.The project found that some plastics leached xenoestrogens and that students who had achieved a better understanding of xenoestrogen contamination indicated that they would either use the same amount of plastic or less in the future.The survey did not find a direct correlation between the amount of knowledge and plastic consumption; however, it successfully provided high school students with information to educate them about the health risks associated with xenoestrogens.