Are you sure it's not polypropylene instead of polyethylene? I thought that polyethylene was one of the one's to avoid.

Really? Stainless steel is unsafe too!
Ugh! This is so disappointing to me.
I moved to stainless steel water bottles and thermoses to get away from plastic as well.
And they are not cheap - the water bottles are $15-$20 a piece! Plus they are great at keeping the water cold.

So plastic is safer than stainless steel?
This is so new to me..could someone explain to me why. And why if metal can leak onto foods, are the stainless steel items so popular and being advertised as so safe?

Thanks!
A concerned mom!

My son does use glass for lunch with a plastic lid. What I do is pad his cloth lunchbag with a folded tea towel in the bottom. In the past two years he has broken it just once and he was only 4 and 5 years old.

Debra -

Re your statement "I no longer use stainless steel anything" -- What about flatware? I love the design of my flatware and it's stainless steel, but I've had concerns for some time it might be leaching nickel or other metals. (And is there a swab that tests for all metals, not just specific ones?)

Thanks!

Regarding the leaching of stainless steel, is this true only of foods that are acidic?

When you say you no longer use any stainless steel, how about for carrying water?

I'm trying to not contribute to plastic consumption safe or unsafe because it doesn't break down. So I'm torn about purchasing stainless steel water bottles for my children's lunch boxes. If you have a link showing how stainless steel leaches, I'd love to read it. When I searched for stainless steel leaching, I couldn't find any supporting information that it leached heavy metals as long as the metal wasn't being heated.

Thank you so much for your help.

Charlene when in doubt I use common sense: I have being diagnosed with mercury & lead poisoning and extremely high levels of aluminum, cadmium & gadolinium. I've learned to use my mind differently now. I never go by what "they" say. So I asked myself "how do I know stainless steel is safe?" I mean after all it is an alloy of metals, a red flag should go off right there. A google search indicates that SS leaches chromium and nickel. I do not trust plastics of any kind. I have a hard time believing that any plastic could be safe but that's me: I have severe plastic sensitivity and intolerance and if it looks like a duck... I have replaced all metal utensils by unvarnished wood ones. I'm just trying to get better, not trying to avoid some future illness but dealing with present is bad enough.

Debra, I can't believe I didn't think of chopsticks! Great idea! I actually was thinking of trying bambooware - it's supposed to be "disposable" but apparently is washable for multiple uses (hopefully many uses - it's not cheap like plastic!).

I have some white porcelain Japanese soup spoons that could supplement the chopsticks and such. Maybe I should LeadCheck them? I still see them in Asian import stores, and they're very inexpensive, and nice to use!

Embarrassed to say I've never lead-checked anything in my kitchen - one of those things I've got to get to! I should buy a bunch of the swabs, since my china and cooking utensils are a collection of this's and thats!

But I bought my porcelain (Chinese-restaurant-style) spoons many years ago, and don't even know whether they were made in China or Japan (bought them in a Japanese import store, but for quite a while most of their stock became increasingly imported from China). I expect the glazes would vary with the manufacturer, even though they're white...

Whenever I get to checking them, I'll certainly let you know, though results may differ from what's being sold now. Afraid of what I may find with all my kitchen items, including those I love using!

I also have a strong reaction to plastic and am looking for a replacement for my garbage bags. Any ideas from Chris about dealing with the plastic sensitivities? Thanks

Would it be safe to use SS baking sheets as long as they are lined with parchment paper or some form of non toxic liner? Are toxins released in the air when SS is heated or just when in contact with food?

Thanks!

Aluminum is much more reactive than stainless or plain steel. A major component of stainlesss is nickel which is also used in heart valves because it is non-reactive to bodily processes. If stainless is undesirable, there is some titanium cookware available which is also non-reactive enough that it is used for various implants and bone repair applications.