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BPA Continues to Lurk

By: The Team (August 11, 2010)

It has been almost two years since the federal government declared Bisphenol A (BPA) a hazardous substance and banned the importation, sale, and advertisement of polycarbonate baby bottles containing BPA. But how pervasive is BPA use in consumer products?

In a survey published in June 2010, Health Canada revisited concentrations of BPA in canned food products. This survey examined samples from 78 canned food products marketed under a variety of brands. The products were purchased in April 2009 from local grocery stores in Ottawa. These products covered a variety of domestic and imported foods, including one canned pasta product, 15 canned vegetable products of seven brands, six canned tomato paste products of four brands, 41 canned soup products of five brands, and 15 canned tuna products of four brands. Among the 41 canned soup products, 29 were concentrated and 12 were ready to serve.

Not surprisingly BPA was detected in all samples, from a low of 0.82 nanograms / gram in Loblaw's No-Name Tomato Paste to a high of 534 ng/gm in Cloverleaf Flaked Light Tuna in Water. But according to Health Canada, on average, the BPA levels observed in the vast majority of samples within this survey are consistent with those of past surveys and are not considered to represent a human health concern.

So why is BPA still omnipresent? Major food manufacturers are discovering how complicated it is to remove the chemical, which is in the epoxy linings of nearly every metal can on supermarket shelves and leaches into foods such as soup, liquid baby formula and soda. It is a goal that is taking years to reach, costing millions and proving surprisingly elusive.

First discovered by A.P. Dianin in 1891, commercial uses of BPA exploded in the 1950s after scientists discovered its ability to make plastics more durable and shatterproof. By 1963, scientists were using it to create epoxy linings for steel cans, which held up under heat and other extreme conditions. Because the BPA linings extended the shelf life of canned goods, did not affect taste, prevented bacterial contamination and were relatively cheap, they became the industry standard by the 1970s. Alternatives like oleoresin linings have been tested but found to break down or impact on the flavour of the food in the can.

So how bad is BPA after all? The chain of effects can be complicated but once seen paint an ugly global picture of the health hazards of this product.

Because the BPA mimics the effect of the hormone Estrogen, a number of studies have linked BPA to early onset puberty in girls (called Precocious Puberty). While historically Precocious Puberty was considered isolated, recent studies have shown that as many as 23% of girls are beginning to exhibit signs of the onset of puberty by the age of EIGHT! The psychological effects of reaching puberty at this young age aside, a direct correlation has been found between Precocious Puberty and obesity.

So what we are hearing is that obesity may be not only related to what you eat but the container it came in!

And what about men?

New studies indicate that men are not excused from the effects of BPA. Early life and environmental exposure to BPA can now be linked to sexual disfunctions and sterility in adult males. So it may not be the beer that is causing that problem but rather the lining on the beer can!

All levity aside BPA continues to affect many aspects of our lives, with a wide variety of studies linking BPA to cancer, diabetes, liver problems, and developmental problems and aggressive behavior in children.

So what can we do until the food industry finds an alternative to BPA?

Here are some common sense ideas to help out:

• Avoid plastic food and beverage containers. To avoid BPA and other plastic chemicals that might leach into what you're eating and drinking, choose glass or stainless steel containers to store food. (Note that some tests have found that even some plastic labeled "BPA free" can contain BPA.)
• Never heat up plastic. Heat generally causes more leaching, so don't put hot food or beverages into plastic containers, and don't cook or heat up food in plastic—that includes "microwave safe" plastic and plastic containers and wrappings that come with frozen or microwave dinners.
• Rethink canned food. BPA is used in the lining of metal food cans, so eliminate or cut back on canned food in favor of fresh, frozen, or dried foods. If you have to buy canned, avoid acidic foods like tomatoes, which promote leaching. Contact the makers of your favorite canned foods and ask them to start working on BPA-free options. When food makers in Japan stopped using BPA, the population's BPA levels dropped by 50 percent.

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Sources: Health Canada, The Washington Post, The U.S. FDA, Science Daily, Rodales

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The Teeswater.Ca Team are a group of people interested in providing local news of interest to everyone without needing the instant gratification of their name in (cyber)print.

Filed Under: Health, In The News, Lifestyle, Our Earth
Tags: BPA, canada, Health Canada, Precocious Puberty