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"  Let&amp;#039;s face it: Plastic is inexpensive. Which is why we all have piles of it. Since I chronically blast lunch leftovers at high heat for 90 seconds, the news that plastic containers + heat = might be bad was hard for me to swallow. In fact, the President&amp;#039;s Cancer Panel released a 240-page report last April suggesting that &amp;quot;microwaving food and beverages in ceramic or glass instead of plastic containers will reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals that may leach into food when containers are heated.&amp;quot; One of those chemicals is BPA, which has gotten a lot of press lately. Lori Bongiorno, author of Green Greener Greenest, tells us how to use plastic safely:   Choose BPA-free plastic. Look for containers stamped BPA-free. If you&amp;#039;re not sure, check the number stamped on the bottom that identifies the type of plastic. What people should avoid is Type 7-PC, which indicates &amp;quot;polycarbonate,&amp;quot; the component that contains BPA. When in doubt, only by plastic that&amp;#039;s stamped BPA-free.   Let it cool. &amp;quot;Always let food cool down before you put it in the container,&amp;quot; she says. When in doubt, put soups and liquids in nonplastic containers. Microwave on a plate. &amp;quot;We know that heat degrades any plastic over time,&amp;quot; says Urvashi Rangan, PhD, technical policy director at the Consumers Union. And since we don&amp;#039;t know the effects of the degraded material, as a precaution, she recommends not heating plastic.   Handwash. Yes, it&amp;#039;s a pain. But keep in mind that unless raw meat is in there, there&amp;#039;s no reason to sterilize containers. Dish soap and water will do it. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/nutrition/a5475/the-truth-about-plastic-containers-114563/>