“Plastic containers have a code printed on them– a number from 1 to 7– and a classification of the plastic itself. In this case we’re on the lookout for #3s and #7s with the letters PVC and PC (respectively) underneath.”  This probably includes the large bottle of water supplying water for your office, and probably also the smaller bottles being used for bottled water and soda, I might add. (The Nalgene people and their competitors have pretty much cleaned up their acts, for newer bottles.)

Of course, the next thing to worry about is that BPA is in canned food cans, as a liner. So try to avoid eating food from cans–buy food held in  glass containers, when possible.

“The bad news is, unlike take-out containers and sports bottles, there’s no way to know if your pre-packaged food is being infused with synthetic estrogen. And though the FDA has finally admitted that BPA isn’t a tasty, healthy additive (or whatever the hell they used to think), and may actually be a danger, there are no plans as of yet to ban the chemical or require manufacturers to disclose its use.

“The water cooler is easy. Here goes… DRINK TAP WATER.”

The author then recommends that you get a filter, just like the filtered tap water you used to buy in plastic bottles.  He comments that the water filter doesn’t remove BPA.

I’d like to point out that there’s no BPA to remove, if the water hasn’t been in a BPA-containing bottle.

Consider getting a Multi-Pure home water filter, the best product out there with a proven record and golden guarantees, costing you just 8 cents per gallon. And take a look at the EcoMatters Daily article here: http://ecomattersdaily.com/2010/02/bisphenol-a-its-the-new-asbestos-and-its-everywhere/

The study is the first to demonstrate that drinking from bottles containing BPA increases BPA levels in urine, said the researchers according to the article.

These bottles weren’t heated. If they were, the BPA levels in urine should be considerably higher, said researcher Karin B. Michels in the article.  She is particularly concerned about infants, who may be more susceptible to BPA’s possible endocrine disruption.   Meanwhile, a recent large human study linked BPA to increased risk of diabetes, liver toxicity, and heart disease, said the article.

The article gave some interesting details about how the study came to be.  Michels warned her students who carried water around in hard plastic bottles that the bottles contain BPA.  How much? asked the students. And the study was born.

A doctoral student, Jenny Carwile, organized the study, which enrolled 77 Harvard students.  They drank water from stainless steel bottles for a week to clear their systems, and then drank all cold beverages from a BPA-containing hard plastic bottle for a week. At the end of the week, urine BPA levels had shot up 70 percent.

Previous studies had demonstrated adverse health effects from BPA. But none had demonstrated whether polycarbonate bottles might be an important contributor to the amount of BPA in the body, said Carwile. Meanwhile, the FDA is saying that BPA in products is safe.  Because of this situation, states (Minnesota) and cities (Chicago) are starting to ban BPA in household products, said the article.

Rather than drink water from BPA-containing bottles, get yourself a home water filter and a stainless steel bottle to carry it in.

Results from the study, conducted by Harvard University and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were published May 12 in the online journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

The data came from 77 Harvard student volunteers. Researchers sought to examine whether drinking cool or cold beverages from the commonly used polycarbonate containers increases BPA concentration in humans. The study compared urine levels of BPA after a “washout” period of one week (when subjects drank from stainless steel bottles) with levels after the test period of one week when volunteers had been drinking from the polycarbonate bottles.

The activist group Environmental Working Group is concerned about the results as they may apply to young children and infants, where the effect of BPA is unknown. The compound is considered an endocrine disrupter and a carcinogen by many.

Lawmakers are moving to ban BPA in products that could be used by small children, flanking the FDA which is permitting use of the controversial chemical. Nalgene, meanwhile, is coming up with BPA-free bottles.

BPA is also found in plastic water and beverage bottles, the ones that are so commonly used.

Be safe and drink from a stainless steel bottle! You can purify your water with a home water filter and carry it with you. Not only is it safer than bottled water, but it’s a lot less expensive.