Various Plastics-related Sites

Various Plastics-related Sites

This blog webpage is here mostly for the purpose of safe and effective kombucha-brewing.
Also refer to one of my other blog webpages, Kombucha Brewing Containers

- UC Berkeley Campus Recycling and Refuse Services' PDF-formatted document A Closer Look at Plastics

- Nearby Contra-Costa County's amazingly identical A Closer Look at Plastics

- Trusted.MD blog's Which plastic water bottles don't leach chemicals?

- The industry-sponsored and "official" Bisphenol-A website

- Article: BPA, Chemical Used to Make Plastics, Found to Leach from Polycarbonate Drinking Bottles Into Humans

- Similar BPA article as above from another source; BPA, Chemical Used to Make Plastics, Found to Leach from Polycarbonate Drinking Bottles Into Humans

- Comprehensive BPA-focused website Our Stolen Future: Background on BPA...

- NAPCOR's PET Safety FAQs (PET is another acronym for #1 PETE)

- Omega Nutrition's The Final Say On Plastics

- Greenpeace's Toxic Site list of Reports (with focus on the toxicity of PVC plastic)

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DIY Kombucha Kosher Le'Pesach ?

DIY Kosher Le'Pesach Kombucha?

As a rhetorical question, just What are the problems in DIY-making and using Kosher Le'Pesach Kombucha Tea ??

The Utensils

1. The stainless-steel boiling-pot and all other metal utensils can be toveled in a vessels-mikvah before being cleaned and sanitized.
2. Non-metal siphon tubing, measuring cups, flatware, and tea brewing and tea storage containers can be purchased brand-new.
3. Primary brewing utensils can be new 1-2 Gal carboys or very(!) clean 1 Gal bleach containers. Secondary brewing utensils can be very(!) cleaned-out 16 fl oz and 32 fl oz detergent-containers.
4. All cleaning of utensils can be performed with kosher le'Pesach soap, warm tapwater, and disposable sponges & scrubbers.
5. Sanitization of all utensils can be performed with a) boiling-temperature water (for stainless-steel, other metals, and PolyCarbonate #7), b) with sanitizing bleach-water solutions (for glass, HDPE #2 and PET #1 plastics), or c) with Iodophor (for siphon-tubing and other plastics)

The Ingredients

1. Water. Cool tapwater can be filtered and boiled for container-rinsing and brewing.
2. Tea. Loose green-tea; no additives must be present in this tea, e.g., rice, licorice, other sweetening ingredients, ginseng, ginkgo, ... etcetera.
3. Sugar. Brown sugar, white sugar, and raw turbinado sugar can all be quite easily purchased with Kosher Le'Pesach supervision.
4. SCOBY "mushroom". The actual SCOBY will probably have contacted chametz utensils at some point in its passaging and maintenance. The question here is how many SCOBY passagings (continuous uses) can nullify/mevatel the chametz SCOBY gets exposed to from prior kombucha-brewing utensils????

Kosher Kombucha-a ?

Kosher Kombucha-a ?

A smattering of sites pertaining to Kashruth of Kombucha Tea

• OUKOSHER.ORG Kashruth Update Monday December 7, 2009 Newly Certified
  'High Country Kombucha Eagle, CO' ,
  http://one-village.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!BC643D0EE3B38628!17023.entry
• The Aishdas thread '[Avodah] kombucha' by Yisrael Medad of Shiloh
  and Zev Sero of Park Slope, http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2007q2/001972.html
• Jewish Mustang Daily's (Cal Poly San Louis Obispo) 'Ditch the
  liquor store, put yeast to work', http://mustangdaily.net/tag/jewish/
• Public Radio Kitchen's 'Kombucha Much?', http://publicradiokitchen.org/2009/08/17/kombucha-much/
  

Helpful Kombucha-related Sites

Helpful Kombucha-related Sites

• The associated kombucha-related links in the Happy Herbalist's 'Library' section, http://www.happyherbalist.com


• The Kombucha Wikipedia found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha


• Günther W. Frank's 'How to make your own Kombucha tea' found at
  http://www.kombu.de/anleit-e.htm


• Blogger.com's 'Kombucha Blog' found at http://kombucha-blog.blogspot.com/


• The Community-Tea Kombucha's 'Recipe for making kombucha' found at http://communitea-kombucha.com/wordpress/?page_id=45


• The wikiHow 'How to Make Kombucha Tea' found at http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Kombucha-Tea


• Instructables' 'Making Kombucha' found at http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-Kombucha/


• Kansas City-Fat City blog's Krazy for Kombucha

Kombucha Brewing Containers

Kombucha Brewing Containers **

Must be

• Visibly clean and reasonably well-sanitized (but definitely NOT sterilized!)
  
• As free as possible from chlorine and other chemicals that can leach into or out of the container material
• Sturdy enough to withstand the fairly acidic brewing conditions that may further cause chemicals to leach out from the container material, e.g., at pH's below 3.0

Possible Brewing Container Materials

A. Glass
B. PolyEthylene Terephthalate, #1 PETE, PET
C. High Density PolyEthylene, #2 HDPE
D. PolyCarbonate, #7 PC, "lexan"/"nalgene"
E. Stainless Steel Metal, SSM

A list of references concerning plastic brewing-container materials B thru D is at my blogpage Various Plastics-related Sites

A. Glass.

1. Wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse.
2. Sanitize using 1-2 tbsp household bleach and cold water, leave in shade or low-light at least 6hrs.
3. Re-wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse well with warm non-soapy tapwater.
4. Rolling-boil 2-4 quarts of tapwater containing 1-2 tbsp standard food-grade vinegar for ~5 minutes to reduce chloride, cool this enough for easy handling, fill the glass container with this medium-hot acidic water for ~5 minutes, and re-rinse with cool filtered water.
5. Check container for any noticeable discolorations or odors, and check for these before adding the combination of nutrient broth and SCOBY.


B. PolyEthylene Terephthalate / #1 PETE.

1. Wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse.
2. Sanitize using 1-2 tbsp household bleach and cold water, leave in shade or low-light at least 6hrs.
3. Check for any leaks at container seams and at container bottoms.
4. Re-wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse well with warm non-soapy tapwater.
5. Rolling-boil 2-4 quarts of tapwater containing 1-2 tbsp standard food-grade vinegar for ~5 minutes to reduce chloride, cool to well below 50 degrees Centigrade (that is, well below 130 degrees Fahrenheit), fill the #1 PETE container with this warm acidic water, leave in container ~5 minutes, and re-rinse with cool filtered water.
7. Check container for any noticeable discolorations or odors, and check for these before adding the combination of nutrient-broth and SCOBY.


C. HighDensityPolyEthylene / #2 HDPE.

1. Wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse.
2. Sanitize using 1-2 tbsp household bleach and cold water, leave in shade or low-light at least 6hrs.
3. Check for any leaks at container seams and at container bottoms.
4. Re-wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse well with warm non-soapy tapwater.
5. Rolling-boil 2-4 quarts of tapwater containing 1-2tbsp standard food-grade vinegar for ~5 minutes to reduce chloride, cool to well below 50 degrees Centigrade (that is, well below 130 degrees Fahrenheit), fill the #2 HDPE container with this warm acidic water, leave in container ~5 minutes, and re-rinse with cool filtered water.
7. Check container for any noticeable discolorations or odors, and check for these before adding the combination of nutrient-broth and SCOBY.


D. PolyCarbonate / #7 PC .

1. Wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse.
2. Sanitize using 1-2 tbsp household bleach and cold water, leave in shade or low-light at least 6hrs.
3. Re-wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse well with warm non-soapy tapwater.
4. Rolling-boil 2-4 quarts of tapwater containing 1-2 tbsp standard food-grade vinegar for ~5 minutes to reduce chloride, immediately fill the #7 PC container to the brim with boiling acidic water, leave the hot acidic water in the #7 PC container until cool enough to handle, then dump the acidic water, re-rinse with cool filtered water and completely dry out the container.
5. A repeat of step 4 may be called for due to the presence of BisPhenol A (BPA) and other leached chemicals remaining in the #7 PC following the bleach-sanitization of step 2 above.
6. Check container for any noticeable discolorations or odors, and check for these before adding the combination of nutrient-broth and SCOBY.


E. StainlessSteelMetal / SSM.

1. Wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse.
2. Sanitize using 1-2 teaspoons Iodophor and cold water, leave as is for 1-2hrs.
3. Re-wash with warm soapy tapwater, rinse well with warm non-soapy tapwater.
4. Rolling-boil 2-4 quarts of tapwater, cool this enough for easy handling, fill the SSM container with this medium-hot water for ~5 minutes, and re-rinse with cool filtered water.
5. Check container for any noticeable discolorations (with SSM, this may be rust!) or possible odors (e.g., unrinsed iodine), and check for these before adding the combination of nutrient-broth and SCOBY.


** Much thanks for all this wholeheartedly go out to my neighbor, the NAPCOR people (for technical advice on the use of PETE/PET plastic), and so many very helpful people besides these!

My own kombucha-container results so far are as follows:

• Narrow-mouthed jars in general are poor as primary fermenters. I found in at least one case that transferring the SCOBY out of such jars caused the SCOBY to become contaminated with visible mold -- likely contracted when I had to directly handle the SCOBY.


• Wide-mouthed glass jars work excellently as primary fermenters, but only work acceptably as secondary/carbonation-fermenters. The problem with the latter is not with sanitization; the problem appears to be with carbonation-gas escaping through the caps on top of such containers.


• Wide-mouthed #7 PC jars work excellently as primary-fermenters (IMO, very nice SCOBY "mushrooms"!) This material works just as well for secondary/carbonation-fermentation, however, it is imperative that the lids on such jars be kept as tight as possible from the start of the 2ndary fermentation all the way through final refrigeration.


• SSM containers work poorly as primary-fermenters... I'd guess that either impurities or something else in the metal reacts with the SCOBY-produced acidity to negatively affect the SCOBY's growth at a critical stage. Surprisingly, SSM jars seems to work exceedingly well for secondary/carbonation-fermentation. SSM container-sealers are clearly the most airtight of all the above materials.


• Those persons who have direct experience with this, have emphatically described to me that both Low-Density PolyEthylene (#4 LDPE) and PolyPropylene (#5 PP) work poorly as kombucha-fermenting containers. I would guess that sanitizing agents and other chemicals can most easily both absorb into and leach out of these softer plastics. Every general-purpose water bottle or Rubbermaid product I have come across over the last fifteen years or so has consisted of either #4 LDPE or #5 PP.


• #3 PolyVinyl Chloride (PVC) is considered toxic due to this plastic's release of phthalates, so this material should NEVER come into contact with kombucha.

----------------------------

In retrospect partially based upon the above, much of the continuous problems I had in my ale-homebrewing back in the old Brooklyn basement apartment were caused by the following:
- Using 5Gal Poland Springwater carboys made of PolyCarbonate (PC, #7) instead of being made from glass
- Using way too much bleach left for way too long in 5Gal PC carboys, all this performed in order to attempt to thoroughly sanitize them!
- Using ineffective methods to rid each PC carboy from chloride and other NYC-water residues before brewing --- should have washed the sanitized PC carboys with warm soapy tapwater, then completely rinsed these with regular non-soapy warm tapwater, then added boiled tapwater (to leach out more chloride+residues), and then finally, rinsed these with cool distilled water (or alternatively, with filtered, chloride-reduced water!!)
- Having relatively-high ambient apartment-temperatures around my homebrew-fermenting carboys, even after the wort was sufficiently cooled!

----------------------------

The Sham of Microchipping Pets

I continue to see postings and info-pieces put forth by supposed animal-loving groups & individuals on the benefits of microchipping one's pets.

Here is one I just reviewed
All Cats Need an Identity: Cats Without ID Can Become a Statistic

I quote :

The headline never fails to cause a twinge of empathy in a cat lover. Nothing can approximate the emotions playing hopscotch through the mind of someone who has lost a cat: fear that you'll never see her again; fear that you will see her again-- a broken corpse thrown to the side of a road; paranoia that someone has stolen her; anger at the cat for escaping; guilt and remorse for allowing her escape; hope that any minute now you'll hear that familiar "meow" and she'll be waiting patiently at the front door; and that heavy, dull, empty feeling of loss

Sounds like the only true compassion is keeping your cat or other pet microchipped and registered, right? Also, major heaps of F.U.D. (= Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) if you don't do this.

Here are some other less-alarming pro-microchipping pieces
- 'Microchipping Your Cat for Extra Safety', http://www.myhealthycat.com/microchipping.html
- 'All About Microchipping Identification for Dogs and Cats', http://petcaretips.net/microchipping-dog.html

Here is a pro-microchipping piece that hints at the current costs to animal shelters and potential pet owners for voluntary microchipping theirs pets. 'Microchip Your Cat', http://catszone.blogspot.com/2007/03/microchip-your-cat.htm

Microchipping is not an expensive procedure, in most areas the cost of this safety precaution is $50 USD. The owner must pay an additional fee to register the cat’s microchip ID information. This registration fee is used to make sure your cat’s information is entered into databases at shelters in your area. If you get your cat from an animal shelter, it may already be microchipped and you will only have to pay the small registration fee. Contact your local animal shelter to find out if they provide a free microchipping service.

Finally for now, there is also the "Uses and benefits" section of the Microchip implant (animal) Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchip_implant_(animal)#Uses_and_benefits
As this piece summarizes,

Microchips have been particularly useful in the return of lost pets. They can also assist where the ownership of an animal is in dispute.

--

The striking aspect of all these site-pieces, without exception, is that these are all for the supposed benefit of the pet-owner and naturally, the owned pet.

Actually, there are some disturbing trends that indicate that any accrued benefit of microchipping may not be completely beneficial for the pet(!), and even more certainly, not for that pet-owner who voluntarily chose to microchip his/her pet or who voluntarily chose to adopt his/her pet in the first place.

Consider these findings.
1. The cons of microchipping pets as described at goemstic.com's Pros and Cons of Microchipping Pets
2. Within the last few years preceding this particular blog writeup, several news reports of studies suggesting that microchip implants may be linked to
tumors in pets.
- The washingtonpost.com's 'Chip Implants Linked to Animal Tumors
- LA radio station KNBC's Do Microchip Implants Pose Health Threat To Pets, Humans?
- A hard-hitting Anonyumous blogspot.com response to Arlington Pets blog: Microchip Concerns Premature

I'm extremely disappointed by your post. The title alone is misleading, if not wholly inaccurate. Ohio State University's veterinary oncology dept. has come forward requesting a full, 20-year retrospective study of chips and possible sarcoma links before any categorical ruling of 'safety'. The medical community has immediately stopped the implantation of chips in alzheimer's and dimentia patients, and most of the doctor's of the 200 or so already implanted are planning immediate removal.

One dog has already been confirmed to have contracted and died from chip-associated sarcoma. Perhaps it's best that you let ALL of the facts come out before commenting that concerns are 'premature'.

And citing the AVMA holds little to no validity in my book. It's an organization committed to its members and their business, not to animal welfare. Look at the AVMA's current VOCAL opposition to the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

Sorry - but you missed the boat on this one.10/18/2007 8:39 AM

Indeed, this may be the key reason that microchipping pets is a sham solely for our pets' healths alone.

IMNSHO, it seems to me that microchipping and the pet-databases associated with this practice are almost as concerned with licen$ing and product-marketing/spamming [to us pet owners] as they are with their primary purpose of recovering lost pets.


Are microchip manufacturers and veterinarians somehow burying the real statistical health-risks on the use of pet microchips from current and new pet-owners??

Who else could stand to benefit from the non-reversible use of pet microchips?
(Animal-rights lawyers and law enforcement personnel certainly!)

This may easily lead to a scenario in which animal registration and governmental surveillance possibly increases enactment and enforcement of animal-cruelty laws, making it increasingly criminal and punishable not to use pet microchip devices.
- What can effectively stop the eventual scenario of law enforcements' fining or arresting owners whose microchipped-ID'd pets accidentally and temporarily wander away from their owners, or fining or else arresting microchip ID'd owners when their pets miss a scheduled vaccination ??
- Will such owners of microchipped pets get fined or otherwise penalized when they do not pay initial and renewal fees for their pets' microchips?