How Does BPA Affect Health?

How Does BPA Affect Health?

Eating healthy means more than what we eat and drink. It also depends on what we buy, prepare, store and heat our food and beverages in. Bisphenol A (BPA) is the chief building block of polycarbonate plastic, which is a hard plastic commonly used to construct water bottles, kitchen utensils, travel mugs, food storage containers and travel mugs. BPA is also a major element of the epoxy linings found in beverage and metal food cans.
Since the 1930s, there has been much controversy about whether BPA within consumer products is hazardous to human health. In 2008, there were reports issued by several governments that questioned the safety of BPA in consumer products. As a result, many retailers pulled products from their shelves. The major problem and great concern throughout the land is that these polycarbonate plastics can filter BPA into our food and beverages.

Health Problems From Being Exposed to BPA

The National Toxicity Program has declared that consumers should have reason to be concerned about BPA because it can cause neural problems or behavioral problems in a pregnant woman's fetus as well as problems in infants and older children. It has also been declared that BPA can cause prostate problems in men, problems with mammary glands, and even promote early puberty in young girls. In addition, there is concern that when a pregnant woman is exposed to BPA, the health of her unborn baby may be negatively affected, resulting in birth defects or reduced birth weight. Exposure to BPA may also cause the pregnant mother to miscarry. BPA in consumer products has also been linked to a several health problems such as cancer, infertility and breast cancer.
BPA has low heightened toxicity. It also has an oral LD50 of 3250 mg/kg in rats. Nevertheless, BPA is an estrogen receptor agonist. These agonists can begin to mimic the human body's actual hormones which will cause the body to have similar physiological effects. Because of this, there is great concern that when exposed to extended low doses of BPA, it may provoke chronic toxicity in the human body.
Countries such as Canada have conducted their own studies and have declared to classify BPA as inherently toxic.
According to Frederick Vom Saal, a BPA researcher and a biology professor at the University of Missouri, heat, acid, alcohol, harsh detergents, age and microwaving can also exacerbate the release of BPA.

Things We Can Do

Although we may not be able to completely rid consumer products of BPA, there are some things that we can do to limit intake of this unsafe constituent.
Limit canned foods and beverages, purchase foods and beverages in glass containers, or buy frozen vegetables. Instead of plastic containers, store your food in glass containers such as Pyrex containers, but remember to wash the lid by hand if it is plastic. Filter your drinking and cooking water. Do not transport your beverages in plastic mugs. Use a stainless steel mug that is not lined. Do not drink from hard plastic water bottles. They are made of polycarbonate plastic. Instead, use a stainless steel unlined water bottle. Klean Kanteen makes stainless steel water bottles.
When cooking in the kitchen, use wooden, metal or glass spoons, flippers, measuring cups, colanders and blenders. It may also be a good idea to filter your tub and shower water, because it is a concern that small BPA molecules can be absorbed through the skin. You can add ceramic filters to your tub and showerheads to eliminate BPA from your water. Lastly, you might want to think twice about using the water cooler at work. Remember, it is plastic and is usually constructed of polycarbonate that contains BPA. Following these tips should help you to greatly lower BPA ingestion, as well as remain safe from the its negative effects.

Resources

• MSN Health and Fitness
• Wikipedia, Bisphenol A