Bisphenol-A (AKA: BPA) is a chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastic. Polycarbonate is a hard, clear plastic that is very popular in the consumer realm. It's most known for being the plastic that is used for those cool Nalgene bottles hikers (or psudo-hikers) carry around their water in.
Opps. That was probably a 'not-so-great' idea. As it turns out, several studies have shown that Bisphenol-A leaches out of polycarbonate and into whatever it contains, even at room temperature. That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that BPA is an endocrine disruptor that mimics the hormone estrogen in humans. It has been linked to the following effects in mice:
- Permanent changes to genital tract
- Changes in breast tissue that predispose cells to hormones and carcinogens
- Prostate cells become more sensitive to hormones and cancer
- Lower bodyweight
- Early onset of puberty (this recent phenomenon has been puzzling scientists for a some time)
- Decline in testicular testosterone
- Insulin resistance
- Decreased maternal behaviors
- Damage to eggs and chromosomes
- Reversed the normal sex differences in brain structure and behavior
Immediately, a slew of retailers said they'd pull polycarbonate baby bottles off the shelf (Wal-Mart will only take a year to do it). Nalgene said they're abandoning the stuff (declared on the front page of their website).
So, you say, your babies drink from Pyrex bottles and you've never been hiking. So what do you care? Well it also turns out that polycarbonate film is in just about every canned good you can think of, from chicken soup to sodas. Even more disturbing is the sheer number of products I use every day which are either clearly polycarbonate, or are suspiciously like polycarbonate (which is usually designated with the recycling code [7], but not all #7's are polycarbonate. The hard, clear plastic is the dead giveaway). For example:
- My Brita pitchers. Are they polycarbonate? They sure look like it but this site says they DO NOT contain BPA. They're made from the safe-sounding "styrene copolymer methylmethacrylate" I'll keep using them until I hear otherwise I guess.
- My Turvis Tumblers that I drink hot tea from every night. On the website, they're proudly listed as being polycarbonate.
- Those super-cool Rubbermaid Premier food containers....Polycarbonate (to Rubbermaid's credit, they're very upfront about the issue).
- Compact discs and DVDs
- Plastic dinnerware
- Composite dental fillings (ironic...everyone went to these fearing the mercury in amalgam)
- Some of the aluminum water bottles are lined with polycarbonate (just when you thought you got away...)
2 comments:
Two comments. First, as a proud Canadian I am deeply offended by your not so subtle reference to our cultural diversity and our use of the word "eh." Incredible. I mean it isn't like we say "ain't" like Americans - eh?
A second - admittedly more substantive point - with oil soon to be over $200 per barrel when the Saudis admit what we all know (they are running out of black gold) all of these plastics will be too expensive for any mass consumer use. We daily witnessing the end of the Petroleum Age and the consequences will be both negative (huge economic disruptions) and, apparently, positive (fewer sightings of those embarrassing man boobs).
Sub - time for the Pulpit to get onto the next truly big breaking story - a story you theorized years ago. That story - the lies and potentially deadly effects of sunscreens - is just starting to heatup. In the next couple of years the term "oxybenzone" will become familiar to all Americans and the sunscreen hucksters will begin to tout "oxybenzone free!!" products. Unfortunately, too little, too late for many melanoma victims.
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