Source:  www.plasticbagfree.com/facts.php  (please copy and paste)

Plasticizers are a group of chemicals that are added to plastic resins during the manufacturing process.
As a general rule plasticizers soften the final plastic product increasing its flexibility.

However because these plasticizers are an additive and not actually part of the plastics molecular structure its been established that traces of these chemicals can leach out when they come into contact with a product - for example food or drink.

It has also been established that some of these plasticizers are now known to be carcinogens 
( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcinogen ) and endocrine disruptors ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor )
(epa.gov) (ecologycenter) (sciencelinks)

Take PVC for instance, which is commonly used to package foods and liquids, ubiquitous in children's toys and teethers.

The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has recognized the chemical used to make PVC, vinyl chloride, is a known human carcinogen.

However the European Union has only banned the use of DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate) in PVC, the most widely used plasticizer in PVC children's toys.  (Environmental Research Foundation)

Other plasticizers such bisphenol A (BPA) - a known hormone disrupter that when released into food and liquid acts like oestrogen - are still in use, but now being fazed out in the UK. ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A )

For more info please go to:  www.plasticbagfree.com   and click on facts or educate yourself on the internet.

Take care,

Sandra Wijnveldt