Why is Everyone Talking About Bisphenol A (BPA)?
By: Cynthia Drasler, MBA
One of the most discussed chemicals today is bisphenol A (BPA), a component of many plastic containers, plastic resins and epoxy resins. It is known to leach into food and beverages from plastic bottles, metal cans and plastic wraps. Environmental groups have made BPA the cornerstone of their campaign to capture the attention of Congress and reform America’s toxic chemical laws because almost every American is exposed to BPA daily. Children and babies are the most affected.
BPA is a hormone disruptor because it mimics estrogen in the human body and is implicated as a possible cause of breast cancer, prostate cancer, early puberty and behavioral problems. The journal Cancer Research published a preliminary study finding that BPA causes normal, non-cancerous human breast cells to “express genes characteristic of aggressive breast cancer cells.” “We screened 40,000 genes in normal human cells that had been exposed to BPA and found a striking increase in the sets of genes that promote cell division, increase cell metabolism, and increase resistance to drugs that usually kill cancer cells, and prevent cells from developing to their normal mature forms,” says Shanaz Dairkee, Ph.D., the principal investigator of this California State-funded project at CPMCRI, and the co-author of the study. "Breast cancer patients with this kind of gene expression tend to have a higher recurrence than other patients, and they have a worse survival rate.” They also believe BPA is one of the common synthetic chemicals that is not only increasing breast cancer and prostate cancer, but is reducing sperm counts too. This study didn’t conclude that BPA absolutely causes breast cancer – but there is definitely enough evidence to study this further.
Additionally, several studies have linked BPA to various mental conditions ranging from cognitive impairment to autism and even schizophrenia. Interestingly, both BPA researchers and Schizophrenia researchers have come to the same conclusion from different directions. Both groups have found evidence independently of each other that schizophrenia is probably caused by a hormonal or endocrine disruption of some kind and have found that BPA is an endocrine disruptor that may contribute to schizophrenia.
How can we avoid BPA? It’s hard in today’s world to avoid plastics. It’s very hard to find glass containers in stores today, but when given a choice, always reach for them. A professor in Environmental Toxicology from the University of British Columbia, Stelvio Bandiera recently stated, "Repeated washing can remove most of the controversial chemical bisphenol A from plastic containers, I'd probably suggest five or six complete cycles in the dishwasher, but there will still be some left."
Unfortunately, BPA is so widely used and manufactured that you're not likely to eliminate it from your body altogether. The Environmental Working Group has these suggestions for avoiding BPA exposure: “When possible, and especially if you’re pregnant and when feeding a young child, limit the amount of canned food in your diet.
Avoid using old or scratched polycarbonate bottles. If you're in the market for a new water bottle, look for stainless steel water bottles that do not have a plastic liner.
Don't use plastic containers to heat food in the microwave. Opt for ceramic, glass, or other microwavable dishware.
Soft or cloudy-colored plastic does not contain BPA.
If you're formula feeding your infant, consider using powdered formulas packaged in non-steel cans. Also, choose baby bottles made from glass or plastics that don't leach BPA (like polypropylene or polyethylene).”
Help is on the way. Several plastic container manufacturers are in the process of removing BPA from their plastic food containers. Recently, Nalgene introduced a line of bottles made from a new plastic, that shares most of polycarbonate's properties, including shatter-resistance, but - without the BPA.
Wal-Mart in the US is working to expand BPA free products with baby bottles leading the way. Target just introduced glass baby bottles in January 2008. Babies’R’Us reported a 5 fold increase in glass and BPA free baby bottles in less than one year. Toys’R’Us recently announced that it will phase out all baby bottles and sipping cups containing BPA by early 2009. Playtex, a large manufacturer of baby products say they will stop using BPA completely.
The American Chemistry Council, an industry group, disagrees with the opposition to BPA, and wants to continue using it anywhere and everywhere. I did a little digging and found that in 2002 alone, there were approximately 2.8 million tons of bisphenol A (BPA) was produced globally (Source: Chemical Market Associates, Inc. (CMAI)). It should also be said that 65% of the FDA’s operating budget is paid directly by the chemical and pharmaceutical companies. Therefore if various chemical companies are adversely affected financially by the discontinuation of BPA production, it will directly affect the budget of the FDA. Congress needs to change the funding structure of the FDA, but they are not likely to make the changes because Congress started the current funding structure for the FDA in 1992.
© Copyright 2008 by Cynthia Drasler, MBA. If you would like to use this newsletter to send to your own email list, all we ask is that you credit Cynthia Drasler and www.HealthyLivingIsEasy.com as the source of this information.
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