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The Best Science Writing Online 2012
Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...
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[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
You may never have heard of bisphenol A, also known as BPA, but odds are you're carrying it around in your body right now. Researchers tested more than 2000 people between the ages of six and 85. And 93 percent of them tested positive for BPA, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Why should you care? Well, BPA is a component of the polycarbonate plastic in eyeglass lenses and DVDs among other things. And high levels of it have been linked to heart disease, diabetes and liver failure in humans, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In fact, the National Toxicology Program warns that BPA may cause babies to develop abnormally. The Canadian government went so far as to ban it in baby bottles as well as listing it as a toxic substance. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency maintain that BPA is perfectly safe.
Congress, for its part, is considering banning the substance in some products. In the meantime, note that items made from BPA are typically marked with a number seven. These plastics should never be microwaved or exposed to hot liquids—heat can dissolve BPA into what you’re drinking. Better safe than sorry.
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12 Comments
Add CommentThe FDA is always ten steps behind, & is staffed by a bunch of industry shills.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this...so aside from being non-renewable, environmentally toxic, and an economic long walk off a short pier, generating billions of tonnes of landfill-bound cheap plastic crap is also poisoning us? Well now, that is a surprise.
Polycarbonate, the plastic made from BPA, is not cheap. It is properly used in applications where toughness is needed, such as military aircraft canopies and windshields. Commercial jets typically have used laminated safety glass windshields (more layers than in cars) but they are heavy. By thew ay, the laminate is a (gasp) plastic.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEven though polycarbonate is the most expensive common transparent plastic, it has been used in many applications where brittleness is unacceptable. The present concern over food applications is justified but it's a matter of failing to do the needed homework on leaching of residual BPA, not some inherent danger in the product when appropriately used.
I spoke to the water company that supplies water in plastic bottles. They said the tests were done on rats and to get the equivalent amount of BPA into your body where it can cause problems I'd have to dring something like 50 gallons of water a day. I think that would cause a problem long before the minute amount of BPA leaching from a water bottle. On the other hand I won't tempt fate by nuking water in a plastic bottle. I do that in a ceramic mug, that, who knows, will be the scapegoat of the future. I'm in Canada, the law won't affect too many people except babies.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYes; I've been wondering if drinking out of one of those kinds of plastic go-cups for years is what gave my Uncle cancer and killed him. He always made it with water that was practically boiling. Why do we put up with business people who are essentially murdering us for our money?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOh....he made instant coffee in them. Sorry, didn't put it in my last comment. LOL.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGerber baby food is sold in number 7 plastic containers.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYes, and people usually use the microwave to heat up the meat and veggies....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy daughter is 9 months old and has, unfortunately, been using bottles and baby formula since birth. After the most recent media coverage of health risks linked to BPA, I checked and found that all of her bottles as well as her formula cans do in fact contain this chemical. I am upset and concerned for her health and development, and angry at the snail's pace at which the FDA is moving to deal with this public health issue. Though she will only be bottle fed for about 3 more months, I will be disposing of all BPA plastics used in her feeding and will be much more careful in choosing plastics used for all other members of my family as well. I urge everyone to do the same -- we can't wait for the FDA to take the appropriate action -- our children can't wait to be protected.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's alarmist and misleading to speak of BPA as a component of "many" plastics. I know it to be used in polycarbonate and epoxies but am not aware of any other major plastics types in which BPA is used. A more reasoned approach would list the types of plastics, e.g. polycarbonate bottles & epoxy can liners, which are likely to come in contact with foodstuffs. Making people fear all plastics in our environment leads to paranoia.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is surprising?! Disgusting and disappointing, yes. But surprising? Not at all. Afterall, it's cheap, so why wouldn't cooperate manufacturers use it? Betcha the pharma and medical industries love that stuff!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe lead-in comment "Bisphenol A, a common compound found in many plastics..." is unscientific and unworthy of Scientific American. BPA is found only in epoxies and polycarbonate. Most plastics, e.g. PVC, polyethylene, ABS, polypropylene, acrylics, polystyrene, etc. do not contain BPA. Unscientific comments only worsen consumer anxiety and add to news media hype.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanks for your coverage of this issue. Anyone wanting to introduce this topic to an audience normally scared away by science might be interested in this blog post:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.scienceminusdetails.com/2011/11/shape-science-or-dr-licorice-explains.html