Bisphenol A (BPA) has gotten a lot of press recently, from infant formula to Sigg bottles, it’s everywhere. But did you know that it’s also in your canned foods, especially canned tomato products, pasta sauces, and vegetables?
BPA is a compound used to manufacture plastics and has been in mainstream use for over 50 years. But for all of its benefits, BPA has some significant drawbacks. It can leach from plastics and plastic linings into the product that it holds, especially with acidic foods like tomatoes. From the food products it then is absorbed into the human body, where it causes damage to the cardiovascular and reproductive systems, and can contribute to incidences of cancer, diabetes, asthma and obesity.
The way the tests work today is we think that by testing at high doses we’re gonna see everything. So that once we get to a dose that’s intermediate and we don’t see anything, we’re golden.
But the science is telling us that at really low doses as contaminants mimic hormones. They can have effects that are totally unpredictable by what happens at high doses.
Pete Myers spoke to Living on Earth about the consequences of current testing.
The Sigg Company recently admitted that its aluminum bottles, long touted as an alternative to chemical leaching plastics, actually contain bisphenol-A (BPA) in their liner. The announcement has left customers around the world outraged. Especially damning is evidence that the company knew as far back as 2006 that the bottle liners contained BPA, yet failed to disclose this fact to consumers.
Though the scientific jury is still out on the effects of BPA, states such as Minnesota and Connecticut have already banned their use in kiddie drinking cups and other bottles. Conscientious consumers have also been leery of BPA, and many have tried to do their best to avoid it. Unfortunately for many people, the alternative to other BPA leeching plastic bottles were the aluminum Sigg bottles they thought were safe.
SIGG bottles, long upheld as the standard by which all non-plastic drink bottles should be compared, favourite of hippies and eco-gurus, juggernaut and arguably the biggest player in the metal bottle industry, has finally fessed up.
SIGG kept this cozy little secret by constantly releasing reassuring statements that their proprietary formula had been extensively tested and was never found to leach BPA.
The subtle truth hidden in their messages was that they never said there was no BPA in there to begin with. But now, one entire year after changing their liner to a new “EcoCare”, BPA-free formula, they are now admitting what so many have suspected all along.
After a year-long review of studies regarding bisphenol-A, Massachusetts warned parents to avoid storing breastmilk or formula in containers that contain the endocrine disruptor. Officials also urged pregnant and breastfeeding women to also avoid food contact materials made with the chemical.
Suzanne Condon, director of the state Bureau of Environmental Health, said this in the absence of any federal action on the chemical:
We are concerned about this enough that we want to warn the public. It just seemed it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to sit back and not do anything.
The FDA has yet to change their policy on the chemical in food contact materials. Instead, there has been enough demand from consumers that BPA has been removed from many brands of baby bottles and sippy cups. Also, some states and municipalities have banned BPA, so it’d be pretty tough for manufacturers to regionally offer products with different chemical compositions.
But now an author and feminist says that we should question the breastmilk/formula debate. Is breastmilk really better, or are the differences so minute that it doesn’t matter what you put in baby’s mouth?
Joan Wolf was interviewed by the Times in the UK, where she said,
The evidence to date suggests it probably doesn’t make much difference if you breastfeed.
She says that many studies contradict one another, and others which show no discernible difference in health benefits. There are numerous claims about breastfeeding, she says, which can’t be proven:
In what may be the first ban of its kind in the world, a rural Australian town has banned plastic water bottles.
Campaigners in Bundanoon (population 2,500) in New South Wales, were incensed after a beverage company proposed plans to tap an underground reservoir in the town, then bottle and sell the water.
Over 350 residents turned out to vote for the measure. Only 1 resident voted against the ban, along with a representative from the bottled water industry.
The company has been looking to extract water locally, bottle it in Sydney and bring it back here to sell it. It made people look at the environmental impact of bottled water and the community has been quite vocal about it. We believe Bundanoon is the world’s first town that has got its retailers to ban bottled water. We haven’t found it anywhere else.
Now, all local businesses will stop selling plastic water bottles.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in can linings and hard plastics. It’s been around for a while and is widely used. And chances are, you have it in your system as we speak. With such common usage of the chemical, what are people making a fuss about?
The Endocrine Society, a medical group representing the research of hormones, issued an intake warning at their annual meeting earlier this month.
The group is concerned over bisphenol-A and similar hormone-disrupting chemicals, found in plastics, pesticides, and other products. It said in a statement that bisphenol-A is a
’significant concern for public health’ and that it’s important for consumers to take a ‘precautionary approach’ to limit their exposure.
This follows on the heels of a few more studies regarding BPA. First–and most worrisome–is the recent study that showed that human exposure to BPA is likely much higher than previously thought and much higher than deemed “safe” by the FDA. That study’s author, Dr. Frederick vom Saal, who presented his study’s findings at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, said of the chemical:
BPA is now known to be a potent estrogen.
Human and animal studies indicate it could be related to diabetes, heart disease, liver abnormalities, miscarriage and other reproductive abnormalities, as well as prostate and breast cancer
Despite her recent gaffe with factory-farmed chicken and KFC, Oprah is great for one thing: bringing otherwise overlooked news to the masses. Sure, you and I might know about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and wring our hands over the fish and birds that consume the nodules of plastic, but I’m sure that the average American does not.
That’s why I was pleased to hear that Oprah brought up the matter on her Earth Day episode.
