Drink Soda Pop? You're Drinking Bisphenol A (BPA)
We have noted before that bisphenol A (BPA) is a key component of the epoxy liner in canned food and drink, so it should really be no surprise that new tests at Health Canada found it in pop cans. The chemical is thought to be an endocrine disruptor or "gender bender", and is now banned in many countries from baby bottles.
The levels in pop cans is low, with the highest level found to be 4.5 parts per trillion; you would have to drink 8,000 cans of pop or 900 cans of energy drinks to get to the daily exposure limit set by Health Canada.
But others say that those exposure limits are thousands of times too high.
It isn't in cans, but it is funny!
Martin Mittelstaedt explains in the Globe and Mail:
Still, many scientists are worried about ingestion of the minute amounts of BPA found leaching from food and beverage packaging. The chemical is a synthetic compound able to fool cells into viewing it as estrogen, providing what amounts to an extra dollop of the female hormone.Although levels vary, natural estrogen circulates in people at extremely minute concentrations, around a part per trillion. The test results indicated that an average soft drink has concentrations of BPA around half a part per billion, or 500 times more than the level of the female hormone in people.
Dr. vom Saal says there is also a growing body of scientific literature, based on animal experiments, that has found harmful effects due to BPA at concentrations up to 1,000 times below Health Canada's safety limit. These conditions include such hormonally linked illnesses as breast cancer, and Dr. vom Saal called the government's assurances of no harm "simple-minded."
More in the Globe and MailMore on Bisphenol A in BPA in TreeHugger:Fast Company on the Real Story Behind Bisphenol ABPA Update: Canada Declares it Toxic, FDA Chair's Donor was Michigan's "First Polluter"FDA Chair Studying BPA Took $5 Million Donation From BPA SupporterFinal Report on Bisphenol A: It May Harm KidsFDA Says BPA Is Safe For BabiesBisphenol A: How Wal-Mart Became the New FDAQuotes of the Day: Opinions on the FDA Declaring BPA SafeDon't Buy A Nalgene Water Bottle Until You Read ThisNalgene Dumps Bisphenol A Like Hot Potato :Possible Effects of BPAMore Bad News About Bisphenol A: It Interferes with Chemotherapy TreatmentsYet Another Bisphenol A Pile-on: Linked to Heart Disease, Diabetes and Liver ProblemsNew Study: BPA May Make You Stupid and DepressedSources of BPA:Bisphenol A Is In Your Tomato SauceBisphenol A Could Be In Your TeethBPA Danger may be greater from Tin Cans than Water BottlesPolycarbonate Water bottlesCanada Calls Bisphenol A "Dangerous" Time to Pack In the PolycarbonatesBottled Water - Lifting the Lid :MEC Nixes NalgenesOn Phthalates in TreeHugger:Do Babies Exposed to Phthalates Have Smaller Penises?Congress Will Do USEPA's Job: Reduce Childhood Exposure to Phthalates in ToysAsk Treehugger: What Is An Endocrine Distruptor?Are Boys Disappearing Because of Gender Bender Chemicals?
