A study published last week in the online journal Environmental Health Perspectives has cast additional doubt on the FDA’s position that BPA (Bisphenol A) is safe. Canadian health authorities have already outlawed BPA, calling it a health and environmental hazard.
The lead author of the study, Richard Stahlnut, MD, of the University of Rochester, wrote, “Scientists believed that BPA was excreted quickly and that people were exposed to BPA primarily through food. Our results simply do not fit that picture.” Keep in mind that the FDA’s declaration that BPA is safe was based, at least in part, on these faulty assumptions, despite the fact that other scientific research has linked BPA to prostate cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
The study noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds detectable levels of BPA in the urine of 93% of Americans. The Rochester study analyzed data from over 1400 adults and found that BPA levels appear to drop about eight times slower than expected. They concluded that most plausible explanation for this finding is that BPA exposure comes not only from food (BPA is found in water bottles, baby bottles, and plastic-lined aluminum cans) but also from house dust and tap water. AAHF has noted that children especially, but adults as well, are also being exposed through dental sealants and fillings.
The FDA has already come under criticism for ignoring animal studies which show that even small doses of BPA are linked to changes in the development of the brain and prostate gland. Some scientists have called for the FDA to ban BPA altogether. The January 13 edition of Pulse of Health Freedom pointed out the flawed FDA action on BPA.
In related news, researchers in Taiwan have now found that certain chemicals found in plastics—phthalates—are passed from pregnant women to their unborn children, and affect the reproductive health of their daughters.