One of the most pressing questions about plas­tic is whether or not daily exposure alters the health and fertility of our children -- and perhaps even our children’s children. The hormonelike chemicals in plastic may be remodeling cells and tissue during key stages of development, both in the womb and in early childhood.

Present in everyday items like panty hose and perfume, computers and catheters, baby rattles and billiard balls, plastics are so ubiquitous we seldom give them a second thought. Some public health issues are as familiar as those posed by tobacco, lead, DDT, and asbestos—all hazards that were understood, monitored, and regulated only after decades of research and advocacy. Will plastic be the new asbestos?

If plastic harms, it does so by stealth: by mimicking your own hormones and scrambling signals during fetal development. And it may have that power at astonishingly low exposure levels, amounts that by typical toxicological measures look just fine. With plastic, less may be more, and a little may be a lot.