Are Plastic Bag Bans Making us Sick?

Using the logic, "If we can save only one life, it is worth it (to repeal the plastic bag bans)"

http://reason.com/blog/2013/01/24...ng-us-sick


A new study finds that plastic bag bans may be causing an uptick in emergency room visits and even deaths from common foodborne bacteria like coliform and E.coli.

To quote the study:

"We find that the San Francisco County ban is associated with a 46 percent increase in deaths from foodborne illnesses. This implies an increase of 5.5 annual deaths for the county."

"Basically people were schlepping leaky packages of meat and other foods in their canvas bags, then wadding to the bags somewhere for awhile, leaving bacteria to grow until the next trip, when they tossed celery or other foods likely to be eaten raw in the same bags."

Quote from homers : "Basically people were schlepping leaky packages of meat and other foods in their canvas bags, then wadding to the bags somewhere for awhile, leaving bacteria to grow until the next trip, when they tossed celery or other foods likely to be eaten raw in the same bags."

LOL @ hippies schlepping their canvas bags for a $0.01 discount and getting e. coli as a result.

Quote from homers : "Basically people were schlepping leaky packages of meat and other foods in their canvas bags, then wadding to the bags somewhere for awhile, leaving bacteria to grow until the next trip, when they tossed celery or other foods likely to be eaten raw in the same bags."

Wow, I guess people are stupid. I use reusable bags off and on, but I never, ever let them put raw meat in a reusable bag. If, for any reason, the bag seems dirty, I wash it. Seems like common sense.

Quote from homers : Using the logic, "If we can save only one life, it is worth it (to repeal the plastic bag bans)"

Because repealing the ban is the only solution?

How about sealing the meat packages so they don't leak?

Those morons got rid of bags at the meat counter? They deserve to die.

I still remember having to get rid of paper because of how killing renewable trees to make recyclable paper for bags is bad for the environment.

Quote from Dumpsterdiver : Those morons got rid of bags at the meat counter? They deserve to die. I still remember having to get rid of paper because of how killing renewable trees to make recyclable paper for bags is bad for the environment.

very little that the fringe tree-huggers do makes sense or basic logic...they act on emotion alone...they should be BEGGING everyone to use paper, and use it a lot, because the tree farms used to produce paper take that evil carbon out of the air, fix it in the paper bags, which then lock the carbon away in the land fills when the bags end up there (even if recycled, most of the paper eventually ends up in the landfill or locked in one form or another)....but then cult followers were never big on free-thought and logical analyses...it's just about mindlessly following anything the high priest preaches

Quote from BigBananaMess : LOL @ hippies schlepping their canvas bags for a $0.01 discount and getting e. coli as a result.

The jokes on you :-) The hippies are probably vegan.

Quote from Radeck : very little that the fringe tree-huggers do makes sense or basic logic...they act on emotion alone...they should be BEGGING everyone to use paper, and use it a lot, because the tree farms used to produce paper take that evil carbon out of the air, fix it in the paper bags, which then lock the carbon away in the land fills when the bags end up there (even if recycled, most of the paper eventually ends up in the landfill or locked in one form or another)....but then cult followers were never big on free-thought and logical analyses...it's just about mindlessly following anything the high priest preaches

Speaking of which, paper continues to decay and release CO2 (and methane) while being "locked away" in landfills. Landfills have vents to release the build up of gases.

Also from the study: (and this is just for San Fran, not all the other cities/counties that have implemented similar bans).

"Our results suggest that the San Francisco ban led to, conservatively, 5.4 annual additional deaths. Using the EPA’s current estimated value of a statistical life, 8.4 million in current dollars, this suggests an annual loss of about $45 million without considering the additional hospital costs, either associated with these deaths or with the increased ER visits documented above, or the personal costs suffered by individuals who do not seek medical care."

"Despite these concerns, it could be argued that a simple solution exists, namely fastidious washing of the reusable bags. Such a solution is problematic, however. First, washing such bags will itself have negative environmental consequences through excess water use. Further, the detergents necessary to clean the bags add to the environmental costs, as does the use of water hot enough to kill the bacteria."

Quote from Radeck : very little that the fringe tree-huggers do makes sense or basic logic...they act on emotion alone...they should be BEGGING everyone to use paper, and use it a lot, because the tree farms used to produce paper take that evil carbon out of the air

Carbon neutral paper production. That's a new one.

Also

Tests find high levels of lead in reusable bags [usatoday.com]

The non-woven-polypropylene bags, sold by chains including Safeway, Walgreen's and Bloom, all had lead content above 100 parts per million — the highest level that many states allow in consumer packaging.

Other retailers and organizations with bags or bag inserts tested by CCF that had lead levels above 100 ppm include: Giant; Giant Eagle; KTA Super Stores; Staples; Piggly Wiggly; Brookshire Brothers; Gerbes; Stater Bros.; University of Oregon; the Defense Commissary Agency; Washington, D.C., Department of the Environment; and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

I wonder how much bacteria is on the surface of the shopping carts, baskets or the rubber conveyor belt at the checkout stand.

Quote from Dr. J : Also Tests find high levels of lead in reusable bags [usatoday.com] The non-woven-polypropylene bags, sold by chains including Safeway, Walgreen's and Bloom, all had lead content above 100 parts per million — the highest level that many states allow in consumer packaging. Other retailers and organizations with bags or bag inserts tested by CCF that had lead levels above 100 ppm include: Giant; Giant Eagle; KTA Super Stores; Staples; Piggly Wiggly; Brookshire Brothers; Gerbes; Stater Bros.; University of Oregon; the Defense Commissary Agency; Washington, D.C., Department of the Environment; and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Grocery bags are considered packaging?

LOL, canvas bags. Silly OS hippy trash.

Any cool crunchy hippy kid that's worth his/her weight in a hemp necklace rock the Flip and Tumble's...http://www.flipandtumble.com/

And I'm actually serious. Those bags are great. The Mrs has about nine of them. When they get all scuzzy, you just toss it in the wash...right after you barf blood and have non-stop hot liquid ejections from all the 0157:H7, of course.