Bisphenol A

Since last year, there's been a lot of talk about the harmful effects of bisphenol A (BPA) in plastics #7. When news came out last summer we ditched our plastic bottles and started drinking tap water out of metal ones. Then a few weeks ago, we found out that the insides of SIGG aluminum bottles were coated with a BPA soaked resin. More on that in my August 26th post on MyCWord blog. We're only now realizing that this chemical isn't just used in water and baby bottles. And although Health Canada doesn't admit it yet, it's becoming obvious through laboratory tests that it's not only harmful to babies, but to adults as well as to the environment. This is why:

According to the Chemical Substances website of the Government of Canada, "bisphenol A is an industrial chemical used to make a hard, clear plastic known as polycarbonate." What this definition doesn't say is that BPA is a xenoestrogen. That's where my previous post The Hormone Story is helpful. Xenoestrogen fits in the same receptors in our body as good estrogen does, taking it's place in telling cells what to do and how to behave. By doing so, it causes havoc on our systems and is responsible for many diseases, disorders and conditions. It causes developmental issues, ADD, life-threatening arrhythmia, obesity, diabetes, reproductive disorders in women and infertility in men --to name a few. As for cancer, the Canadian Cancer Society says it's unclear if BPA is a cause in humans (although lab rats who's mothers were exposed to it are often born with cancer). That said, it is now a known fact that BPA causes, feeds and accelerates hormonal receptive cancers such as breast, ovarian and prostate. Which is why the statistics look like this.

The list of products* containing BPA is endless. I think these are the worse:
All plastic #7 and #3 (like Tupperware);
Reusable water bottles and spring water cooler bottles;
Baby bottles and hard plastic sippy cups;
Toys and sports equipment;
Epoxy resins which lines the inside of metal-based food and beverage cans;
Plastic liners of metal lids on glass jar;
Dental fillings and sealants;
Eye glasses;
Surface waters from the tap (but much less than water from a plastic bottle);
Paper receipts from cash register (in very high doses) and newspaper ink.

*More on individual products in future posts.

In the book Slow Death By Rubber Duck, the author wanted to see how much BPA he could absorb in a day: "I ate nothing [...] but canned foods heated in a polycarbonate Rubbermaid container in the microwave. Campbell's chicken noodle soup, canned pineapple, Heinz spaghetti and leftover tuna casserole [...]. I drank a few Cokes and made my coffee in a polycarbonate French press coffeemaker purchased at Starbucks. I then drank my coffee from an old Avent polycarbonate baby bottle..." (p.247) Funny and terrifying all at once, isn't it?

BPA's hormonal effects was discovered by accident in 1998 when geneticists in the US found estrogen in their lab rats when no estrogen was used in their study. It was the rodents' plastic cages and water bottles that leached after they had been cleaned with high pH cleansers by mistake. If you're wondering, all BPA-lined products and polycarbonates leach BPA, and they don't need to be heated to do so. If that's not bad enough, it takes a very low dose to affect us since our body metabolizes it very quickly. Take a minute to think of the amount of BPA you're consuming by eating, drinking, inhaling and touching every day. One source of it at a time "might" be safe, but it's never just one at a time.

Many source will tell you BPA is safe and the FDA hasn't banned it. For example, if you go on the Bisphenol.org, you will read that there's nothing to be worried about. But always ask yourself who's behind the source. In this case: "This web site is sponsored by the Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group, which is organized regionally at the American Chemistry Council, PlasticsEurope, and the Japan Chemical Industry Association." The chemicals and plastics industries are very powerful, not unlike the pharmaceutical industry and, shall I say it, the tobacco industry. Remember when smoking in hospitals was permitted? We all know smoking causes lung cancer, yet cigarettes are still available. The point is, these industries have their own interests and business to protect (think of all we use made out of plastic), and their lobby groups and very influential.

If there's any good news it's this:
1) you can detox yourself of BPA and reduce it's affects on your body by reducing your exposure to it.

2)in 2008, the Canadian government banned the use of bisphenol A in baby bottles, and by doing so set a precedent. Unfortunately, it's still considered safe for adults. Interesting. Were do babies come from and live for 9 months before they're born? If a baby isn't drinking milk from a bottle, what is it drinking it from?

Sources
"Bisphenol A", The Canadian Cancer Society

"BPA industry fights back", JS Online

Chemical Substances EcoAction Initiative, Government of Canada

NTP-CERHR Expert Panel Report on the Reproductive and Developmental Tocixity of Bisphhenol A, 2007

Smith, R. and B. Lourie. Slow Death By Rubber Duck, Toronto, Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2009.

The Bisphenol A Website

Treehugger.com
"Bisphenol A Found in Baby Food in Glass Jars"
"Chemical Found in Plastic Linked to Reproductive Disorders"
"Time to Pack In the Polycarbonates"

"U.S. test contradicts Sigg's chemical-free claim", HeathZone.ca