BPA circulates in pregnant women’s blood, and it passes through the placenta the same way alcohol would, she said. It’s also found in amniotic fluid, which cushions fetuses in the womb and provides nutrients for development.
BPA is mass-produced, heavily studied and controversial. Each year about six billion pounds are produced globally and more than one million pounds are released into the environment, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
A synthetic estrogen, BPA has been used as an ingredient in polycarbonate plastics since the 1950s. It also is used to produce resins for the liners of canned foods.
Since BPA is ubiquitous, it’s hard to pin down how people are exposed, but Vandenberg said canned food is a major source.
Currently, 11 U.S. states have banned BPA in some products. In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the chemical from baby bottles and sippy cups after manufacturers had already abandoned its use in these products. Earlier this year, the FDA denied a request to ban uses in food packaging but announced that it was "not a final safety determination" because research continues.
This article originally ran at Environmental Health News, a news source published by Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit media company.
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3 Comments
Add CommentI wonder if the ACC would be against any follow up studies. Though I am a bit skeptical of Jonathan Chevrier's comment “Our data suggest that there is not a safe level of exposure.” which seems to be overly broad. Still, any effect on thyroid function at all should be alarming and certainly calls for more study.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHave any of these studies controlled for BMI or other measure of fat? When I see something get associated with obesity, I wonder if the molecule is simply more soluble in fat than in water and thus tends to accumulate in fat like inorganic arsenic.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't know who's data Johnathan Chevier is using. The deceptive "frankenfood" and industries that add unknown chemicals to their products? Many of these substances are banned in European countries. Places that are not "under the influance" of cherry picking research according to their own political preferances. Sometimes real change in our country only comes from the grass roots of society that come to understand what is happening. Thats how the Vietnam war was stopped which was needlessly killing and maiming people everywhere, simply because the polititicians HAD TO BE "RIGHT". That's wrong being too proud to change, you know?
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