Bring Back Glass – Ban BPA (bisphenol A) Plastic Containers Now
(This is an important subject but I don’t have time to write a full article on this so here’s my quick take on two new studies — Steve)
77 lucky Harvard student volunteers experienced a nearly 70 percent increase in urinary levels of bisphenol A (BPA), a plastics component and synthetic estrogen linked to cancer, after drinking cold beverages from baby bottles for ONE WEEK. — Research by Harvard University and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published May 13.
The bottles were made of made of polycarbonate, a common hard plastic often used to make reusable bottles/containers among other things. BPA is used to make most polycarbonate and evidently leaches into the water or whatever is in the container.
Another study published May 12 shows that very small amounts of BPA affects the growth of tadpoles: “Bisphenol A stifles thyroid hormone and slows frog development” — this is an easy to read summary from Environmental Health News.
Bottom Line : “The study confirms past research showing BPA interferes with thyroid hormone (Goto et al. 2006, Iwamuro et al. 2006). It is also consistent with studies that show BPA slows and alters development.”
What you can do:
1. Use Glass or Steel Containers – all liquids taste much better in these
2. Insist that plastic containers for water-pop-soda are banned in your workplace, community, district.
3. Lobby for bottle return deposit systems — These are still in place in much of the world and they work fine.
Other research on this:
Plastic chemical linked to female aggression
Stumble It!
[...] Plastic pellets are also magnets for toxic chemicals like DDT and PCBs, becoming, in effect, poison pills. Japanese researchers found that concentrations of these chemicals were as much as a million times higher than in the water. Plastics themselves can leach endocrine-disrupting chemicals like bisphenol A. [...]
Drowning in an Ocean of Plastic « Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist
28/08/2009 at 12:22 pm
[...] Water tastes much better in a steel or ceramic container than plastic. And it is a hell of lot healthier. See my previous posts about various studies about plastic container - Plastic Bottles Leach Estrogen – ‘Healthy’ Mineral Water Contaminated by Plastic and Bring Back Glass – Ban BPA (bisphenol A) Plastic Containers Now [...]
The New Campus Cool: Water Fountains for Drinking – Uni bans bottled water « Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist
10/09/2010 at 1:53 pm