(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

Plastic Bottles Leach Estrogen – ‘Healthy’ Mineral Water Contaminated by Plastic