frozen and fresh fruits, we did a bunch of product testing and looked at also past product testing to see where are the highest levels of bpa in canned foods and it looks like they end up the most in kind of very complex foods like soup or, you know, the pasta dishes that i grew up in that came out of cans, those kinds of things that are salty and maybe also acidic and maybe also really fatty seemed to like suck the stuff up, so the highest levels were in those followed by i believe vegetables, my memory's a little rusty, especially if you're trying to pour your whole meal out of a can, that may be especially problem mat -- problematic, getting your things out of the soy boxes,

or, you know, making a whole bunch of soup out of some fresh ingredients, freezing it in little glass containers, it's almost as easy as pulling a can out of the cupboard, do a big batch and you're going to know exactly what's in it, what was organic and what wasn't and you know it's not going to have bpa, but you're right, it's all canned food. >> and then my second question, i just wanted to clarify something or bring it to your attention, a lot of us here today work for the administration in this building which is actually is a pump station still in use that uses diesel pumps to pump the water from the ocean so it's not just a fire house, it's also us being exposed to diesel exhaust, and so with you mentioned this gal, rachel, is she the person who's not here today, or when you were talking

about the air quality, having your air quality tested, and the odd thing is now a different agency runs and maintains these pumps that are right beneath us now so it gets kind of complicated, but i think i've been exposed, i worked at the airport for 11 years and then worked here, i have this exposure to diesel smell that you don't notice it here, i do notice it frequently, and so when you mention this gal rachel. >> so, just before this, we had a meeting because we're working on hopefully building a study to look at exposures among women in the fire course to understand what they're exposed to, this raises a really interesting kind of unique sub population within that, she is an environmental health

scientist and has done a lot of work on measuring levels of chemicals in people and environments, so one study she did was with also in richmond california to looking at the different levels of chemicals, diesel exhaust in richmond which you would expect to be very different, and she's going to help us see if we can build a study, so this was a great thing that you brought to our attention. >> i start to think about it over the years but especially working in an airport and now in an actively working diesel pump station. >> and it's not something you have any control over, and that's the same kind of fragmentation we're seeing at all levels, it's hard to make changes when jurisdictions move.

>> but if i could get her contact information or something after the presentation, that would be great. >> okay, cool. >> i had two questions, one is you were just saying to use glass when you're cooking or microwave, what about -- i was told before that you could use plastic for the refrigerator or storage, are you saying avoid plastics all together for food storage, and then the second question is water bottles, say for instance i have a case of like costco water in my trunk that i just keep, is it the heat that's leeching stuff into the water or is the sun breaking down the plastic, what is getting leaked into the water, is it the bpa or other toxins? >> these are great questions and they're kind of the same

answer in a way. heat and light can both make plastic break down, either alone or in connection, i lived for a long time in arizona that if you leave your water in the car, it's cooking and getting exposed to light, but either one of those can lead chemicals to leak into the plastic, with bpa, we know, for instance, that it's hundreds of times more is leaked in with high heat than with low heat, it's just the nature of plastics. but the chemicals in most food contacts like that and your water bottles are usually a number 1, the main chemical in most of those is usually relatively safe in the scheme of things, but then different

companies will put different additives to give that plastic the property they want and so a study that came out in 2010 found that some of those additives can act like estrogen, so with the heat or with the uv light in particular, but even at room temperature, some of those additives that are estrogenic can get into the water and cause for instance cells that are sensitive to estrogen to grow more quickly which many breast cancers are, so limiting use like in your car, get some stainless steel or aluminum water bottles, fill those with the water and you can leaf -- leave those in the car, you can have three or four so they're go and grab ready, plastics in the refrigerator, it's a personal decision, but sometimes i'll store stuff in plastic myself, but i kind of switched over to almost only

glass just because it's easier to have one set of stuff ultimately. >> [inaudible]. >> obviously i'm not leaving it in there for months but i might leave a case in there, i might have that for a couple of weeks. >> studies they've done have usually been 72 to 108 hours, so relatively short-term, but also somewhat higher heat exposure than what we probably get most of the time in san francisco, so conditions are really variable and then it's usually controlled rather than kind of normal. yeah? >> so, in general where possible, staying away from plastic water bottles is not only making your life a little bit healthier, it's decreasing our dependence on plastic which is more important as a broader

environmental issue, but even water bottles, even if you leave them in a cold environment, you don't know where they've come from or they've been in ship holds which is really hot, just as a number one rule, if you smell something plastic don't drink out of it. >> that's good advice. >> i have two questions, they're a little bit unrelated but the first one goes on the scheme of plastic, so plastic wrap, plastic bags, you know, it's great to say we should all use glass but we know what's used out there is plastic, and it's reusable, you can come up with all these ways to avoid it but there's plastic everywhere and it's accessible and cheap, so plastic wrap gets used a lot, there aren't that many alternatives that can do what plastic wrap does, i don't use a lot of it and it's harder to store things long-term and same question applies for the freezer, it's easier to put

things in a freezer bag. >> so, a little tip for that is i do admit to using plastic bags, i reuse them and if something is not -- i don't use them for liquids and if something isn't somehow already kind of like a solid or whatever, parchment paper around that and then use the plastic just as the thing that keeps it from leak-proof or if i'm taking soup to work, i have my soup in a glass jar but i will throw it in plastic because i don't want it all over my backpack and there's also more stainless steel options which are a little more expensive but that's a one-time investment, just don't lose it, so a box of plastic bags, it

lasts me like three year, parchment paper, it's the layer that touches your food and then aluminum foil isn't really bad, but parchment paper is a good thing. >> plastics in kids toys and kids products, they're not really labeled, i don't find the same symbol on them and i do a lot of the reuse and recycle, but mostly reusing things so we have hand-me-downs and all kinds of toys that have been through many generations and i sometimes think about it, i can only worry so much about what my son puts in his mouth, but when you talk about chemicals, where do you start, besides i know wooden toys are best and that was the plan originally, only wood in our house and glass and ceramics,

that's all lovely in theory, it's not what happens unless you're a waldorf parent and you're strict and it's really your principle, so good will has a lot of plastic, so you know, anymore words on that, i realize it's a matter of what you can do, but -- >> i have not encountered some of those challenges because i'm not a parent but i have been around a lot of kids, important note is that in 2008, a law was passed that mra*s sites could not longer be used in kids toys , for right now, if you're buying new toys off the shelf, they're not going to have that particular compound, plus skish

shi ones, they're not going to have that, i know you have a small child, is when they're at that mouthing stage of putting everything in their mouth, that maybe be the time to be most concerned about the specifics when they get to the older stage where, you know, there's some pretty nifty plastic toys out there, let's get real, and i like that i had legos as a kid and those were plastic, you know, maybe that's when you loosen it up a little bit and make, you know, judicious decisions, but when they're putting everything in their mouths, you want to be the most careful about what that is, parents may have other added tips. >> [inaudible] because most of the toys for kids, we don't really check sometimes where they're made. >> it's for toys sold in the united states, so regardless of where the manufacturer is, if they're sold in the u.s., they

have to comply with those standards, other countries could well have different laws on their shelves and my guess would be vary from laws that would be more health protective to less

>> this is really a great opportunity to express to you my appreciation for the america's cup, for deciding to come into

san francisco to have this 34th race. the economic impact to the city is incredible. we estimate there will be $1 billion spent by everybody involved throughout the bay area as a result of this race. 8000 jobs have been this 34th race. , to hospitality, all the hotels, all the activities that you see around this waterway. it is an incredible infusion of economic activity for our bay area. i am also very excited -- the world series races -- as you know, i got to be on the ac 45 vote last week. i just want to let you know, i just graduated from a tire tube to an ac 45. that was a wonderful experience. that was just on one boat by itself going at top-notch creatm construction speed, getting a good to experience the teamwork that happens. i can only imagine how the

teams and 11 votes that will be in the races today will practice the rest of the week will have to coordinate a long haul of the balancing of the wind, the waves along the day when they are competing against each other. i am very happy to welcome all of you to the beginning of this race. it is expected to be an exciting part. i can feel it already. i think our audience, as you said, getting into the details and the technology involved, along with the team work and the race itself, will be incredibly great for theppreciate. i want to think the organizing committee, particularly the racing committee and steve partly and ian murray for their wonderful collaboration with the city. they have been working with us for 18 months, negotiating