News: Plastic Kills?

BPA: Why Plastic Ain't Good For You

BPA or Bisphenol A is in many of the products we use. Everything from Ziploc bags to shower curtains, we are exposed to BPA all the time.

If you're living the organic life hardcore already, you've noticed Nalgene bottles are out and have been replaced with stainless steel canisters. This is one of the apparent indicators that BPA-free is certainly gaining in popularity.

But why? 

Studies Proving BPA's Harmful Effects

Since then, other studies have linked exposure to BPA with adverse health effects. Here are a few examples:

Scientists at Stanford University accidentally discovered BPA's estrogen-mimicking effects in 1993. A mysterious estrogen-like chemical skewed results of their lab work and they finally realized that BPA was leaching from laboratory flasks.

Since then, other studies have linked exposure to BPA with adverse health effects. Here are a few examples:

• The Environmental Working Group found that more than half the canned goods tested in a 2007 study had detectible levels of BPA and that one in 10 cans contained enough of the chemical to expose a child or pregnant woman to more than 200 times the government's safe level.
• Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine linked BPA to problems in brain function and mood disorders in monkeys. Researchers found that the low level chemical exposure interfered with brain cell connections vital to memory, learning and mood.
• The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), conducted in 2003-2004, detected BPA in more than 90 percent of Americans it tested. Using this data, researchers linked higher BPA concentrations to adverse health effects, including cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and clinically abnormal concentrations of some liver enzymes.

So what is being done? We can't just expect BPA to vanish from everything we consume? 

Senator Feinstein's BPA Regulation Bill

Check out this report from CA Senator Diane Fienstien's bill to regulate Bisphenol A (BPA) use in food and beverage packaging.  Obviously it's catching lots of flack from the food industry. 

The following reports show the negative effects BPA has on the body. 

Scientists at Stanford University accidentally discovered BPA's estrogen-mimicking effects in 1993. A mysterious estrogen-like chemical skewed results of their lab work and they finally realized that BPA was leaching from laboratory flasks.

Learn More 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/opinion/06kristof.html?src=me&ref=general
http://howstuffworks.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A