Bisphenol A is found in most plastic food containers today. Not only is it found in plastic containers, but also in the lining of most cans. BPA is essentially a synthetic estrogen that enters the body when one consumes food or beverages out of plastic or plastic-lined containers. This is not only harmful to the male reproductive system, but has been found to also stimulate breast cancer growth in women. Knowing this, it should be of no surprise that the sperm count of the average Western male is on a steady decline as many males are becoming more and more feminine. What most people don’t know is that Bisphenol A was actually considered as the form of estrogen to be used in estrogen pills going back to the 1930s.

Susanne Rust and Meg Kissinger, Journal Sentinel - Nov. 15, 2008

Products marketed for infants or billed as “microwave safe” release toxic doses of the chemical bisphenol A when heated, an analysis by the Journal Sentinel has found.

The newspaper had the containers of 10 items tested in a lab - products that were heated in a microwave or conventional oven. Bisphenol A, or BPA, was found to be leaching from all of them.

The amounts detected were at levels that scientists have found cause neurological and developmental damage in laboratory animals. The problems include genital defects, behavioral changes and abnormal development of mammary glands. The changes to the mammary glands were identical to those observed in women at higher risk for breast cancer.

The newspaper’s test results raise new questions about the chemical and the safety of an entire inventory of plastic products labeled as “microwave safe.” BPA is a key ingredient in common household plastics, including baby bottles and storage containers. It has been found in 93% of Americans tested.

The newspaper tests also revealed that BPA, commonly thought to be found only in hard, clear plastic and in the lining of metal food cans, is present in frozen food trays, microwaveable soup containers and plastic baby food packaging.

Food companies advise parents worried about BPA to avoid microwaving food in plastic containers, especially those with the recycling No. 7 stamped on the bottom.

But the Journal Sentinel’s testing found BPA leaching from containers with different recycling numbers, including Nos. 1, 2 and 5.

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GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 31 — The FDA erred when it determined that the use of the common chemical bisphenol A is safe, particularly for infants, the agency’s full science board concluded today.

The full board, made up of independent advisers to the FDA, unanimously endorsed a highly critical report by a special board subcommittee on BPA. The subcommittee concluded that the agency employed faulty science when it determined the BPA is safe as currently used. (See: FDA Advisers Denounce Agency’s Decision on BPA Safety)

The chemical is used in packaging of infant formula, and in molded plastic bottles and sippy cups. The current margin of safety is 5 mg/kg, but the subcommittee recommended lowering that level by one order of magnitude.

The full board, chaired by Barbara McNeil, M.D., Ph.D., of Harvard, accepted the subcommittee’s report after inserting language to state that enough evidence exists to support a more conservative margin of safety for BPA exposure among infants.

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Ashley Shelby - September 19, 2008

On September 16, the FDA did something completely expected: it declared the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) safe for human consumption. This announcement flies in the face of the overwhelming majority of the scientific literature on this chemical, including the recent and highly-publicized studies out of the National Institutes of Health and a report released this week from the American Medical Association linking BPA and heart disease.
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By Elena Conis
Special to The Times

THIRTEEN-MONTH-OLD Solange Dorsainvil plays with toys made from wood and cloth, drinks from a Swiss-made aluminum sippy cup and teethes on kale stems and celery.

Her life is as plastic-free as her mother, Celina Lyons, can make it.

Celina, a Berkeley-based acupuncturist, has become increasingly worried about the possible toxic effects of plastics. “I remember hearing — I don’t remember when — that my Nalgene [water] bottle was no longer safe,” Lyons said. Once pregnant, she stopped storing food in plastic and cut back on plastic wrap. She sought plastic baby bottles free of a chemical called bisphenol A and teething rings free of chemicals called phthalates. (She failed to find the latter.)

“It’s hard to just be a relaxed parent,” Celina says. “You want to do what you can to make things as safe as possible.”

More and more consumers — new mothers are leading the pack — are expressing concern about potentially toxic chemicals in plastic products. Baby blogs are abuzz with warnings about chemicals in baby bottles and toys. Retailers say that demand for glass baby bottles is higher than it’s been in decades and that shoppers are snatching up bottles and training cups made from plastics without bisphenol A. California lawmakers have taken notice: Last week, the state Legislature passed a bill to ban certain phthalates in plastic items meant for children younger than 3.

Recent widely publicized studies have shown that plastics are not only ubiquitous in the environment (marine researchers have shown that plastic debris outweighs zooplankton in remote parts of the Pacific), but are found in the bodies of nearly all Americans too. Scientists have hypothesized that chemicals in certain plastics may be linked to such conditions as asthma and even obesity. But most of the research, and the strongest evidence, points to effects that certain plastics chemicals appear to exert on the reproductive system. Findings are still considered preliminary (existing studies are small and few), but reports are enough to make consumers ask: Are plastics safe?

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