A chemical found in hard plastics -- such as CD cases, baby bottles, food-storage containers, and even electronics parts -- has been loosely linked to incidences of breast cancer. Popular opinion cautions that if we were not worried about this news yesterday, we should not be worried about it today -- because studies are preliminary and nothing is definitive at this point. But there are definitely two sides to the debate over how harmful these hard plastics may be.

The chemical in question -- a pseudo-estrogen called bisphenol-A (BPA) -- appears to be absorbed by breast tumor cells, according to a new study published in the August 28 issue of Chemistry & Biology. Previous studies have linked small exposures of BPA to prostate abnormalities in mice that suggest a link between the plastic chemical and human prostate cancer. Some studies even theorize that embryonic and fetal exposure might influence mental retardation and birth defects. And because this pseudo-estrogen is a synthetic material that in human cells can trigger estrogenic effects, breast cancer now comes up as a disease that may result from this questionable chemical.

Critics say that average levels of the chemical found in urine is infinitesimally small -- about one part per billion. Some say the results of this research come from in-vitro studies that one expert says can never fully explain human disease. Yet the real crux of the matter, according to another expert, is that we are surrounded by all sorts of chemicals that are pseudo-estrogenic -- not just BPA -- and it's the cumulative effects that we do need to worry about.

If you are a Tom Hanks fan -- and who isn't -- if you enjoyed reading the Da Vinci Code -- and who didn't -- if you plan on seeing the movie based on the book -- and many will be going to the theater to see this anticipated blockbuster movie -- and if you are into collecting memorabilia -- then I want to tell you about an eBay auction that went live today. Hanks donated a signed personal copy of the Da Vinci Code book he used while filming the movie to support the Macmillan Cancer Support cancer charity.

According to the folks at Macmillan Cancer Support, last September, IKEA Edinburgh store at Straiton invited Tom Hanks to their coffee morning, as part of Macmillan Cancer Support's World's Biggest Coffee Morning, as he was filming the Da Vinci Code at nearby Rosslyn Chapel. Unable to attend himself, he kindly sent his bodyguard with not only apologies but a signed personal copy of the book.

The highest bidder in the eBay auction will win this celebrity signed book that has sparked both interest and controversy around the Holy Grail mythology. The auction runs from May 19 - 29 with all proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support.

According to directors and critics alike, Timothy Spall is an acting institution -- a yardstick by which to measure other actors. My boys and most moviegoers know Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail, from the Harry Potter films and as Mr. Poe in the Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events film. Ten years ago, Spall was diagnosed with leukemia, and in a recent interview, he spoke about the experiences of being a cancer survivor. 

When he was first diagnosed with cancer, he said, "I had to face up to oblivion." Ten years later, he says, "It's a tacit thing. It's called remission. It's a bit like being an alcoholic; you're a recovering alcoholic until the day you die. With cancer, they suggest that after five years of being clear, if you are going to die it may be something else that kills you."

"Ten years is going to be a great anniversary. I know exactly when I was diagnosed, to the day. We won't have a huge shindig, but it's a very important day. It was a horrendous, horrendous adventure." Although Spall does not want to be known or remembered because he had cancer, he does credit the experience for making him the actor he has become. In understanding suffering, and fear, and oblivion, he can relate to characters he plays who face similar life situations, and can bring a realism to the portrayal.

On being an actor -- and on living -- and on the future he says, "Nothing to lose, everything to gain, everything to enjoy." Spoken from the perspective of a true cancer survivor.