* The journal Reproductive Toxicology published a Harvard University study of 190 men that found correlation between BPA levels in men’s urine and damage to their sperm counts and DNA.
* Store receipts in many cases are loaded with BPA dust which rubs off onto your fingers. The Environmental Working Group tested receipts from a variety of stores and governmental units, and found large amounts.
And others, like me, sidestep the obesity question and point out that earlier puberty for females (and later for males) is a logical outcome for a BPA-rich environment. BPA, a synthetic estrogen, is used as an additive in clear plastic bottles, as liner for tin cans, and liberally covers credit card receipt thermal paper. It’s in the tissues of every one of us.
I don’t know about you, but I am very tired of getting email spam about Viagra. Apparently one reason for it, indirectly of course, is the use of BPA, bisphenyl A, in our environment: in plastic water and soda bottles, in tin can liners, and on our credit card receipts, and other places probably. Everyone has some levels of this contaminant in their urine. Now there’s proof that BPA, a synthetic estrogen, is adversely affecting male sexuality, according to a study by Kaiser Permanente, a health care provider in California.
Want to avoid BPA? Don’t eat canned food. Don’t touch credit card receipts. (I know, we have to touch them.) And of course, don’t drink water or soda that has been stored in plastic bottles.
Results showed that BPA-exposed girls were more likely to exhibit aggression and ADD, while boys to a lesser degree exhibited anxiety and depression.
The children will be evaluated as they grow older to measure the continued effect of the intra-uterine exposure.
A blog called BPAPlastic.com posted an article recently about BPA contamination in the oceans. BPA is of course bisphenol A, a synthetic estrogen and carcinogen used to strengthen and condition plastic. Scientists have found BPA contamination in seawater and sand at the shores of several different countries, said the blog, and are working to investigate further.
On the BPA controversy, the panel weighs in on the side of caution. “Studies of BPA have raised alarm bells for decades, and the evidence is still complex and open to debate. That’s life: In the real world, regulatory decisions usually must be made with ambiguous and conflicting data. The panel’s point is that we should be prudent in such situations, rather than recklessly approving chemicals of uncertain effect,” wrote Kristof.
Among the panel’s recommendations: filter your drinking water, and store it in glass or stainless steel containers.
I guarantee you’ll learn something from watching this video on bottled water, its environmental impact, its hazards to your health, and its cost. Nine million gallons were sold in the U.S. in 2008. Did you buy any? I hope not!
“BPA is just the tip of the iceberg. The plastics industry has a responsibility to ensure that its products are safe,” says Vicky Health of the journal Nature.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California is convinced too that BPA is harmful, and that we shouldn’t wait to ban it–there are enough studies now. She is pushing for a ban on BPA in food containers now.