Bisphenol-A In Plastic Packaging & Products Is Highly Dangerous

Many clinical studies have concluded that exposure to large amounts of Bisphenol A can be fatal, and now the US Senate has started discussing legislature relating to a proposed ban on it's use in products for kids under the age of three, like toys and baby's bottles. It seems like a storm is brewing for this particular organic compound, and now people are finally beginning to take real note of it's alleged side effects. It has been blamed on heightening the risk of various cancers (breast and prostate heavily), and on encouraging the onset of diabetes and heart disease, but it will be a hard element of the consumer world to replace. That's because it is used in a lot of the packaging and plastic products which we use, but it is never included on any lists of ingredients.

December.20.2009 - George Valentine Corr, Blatant News Editor
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WHAT DO WE USE BISPHENOL A FOR?
Extracted from specially grown plants, Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic compound, but it is often referred to as an industrial chemical, or as a synthetic sex hormone. There are approximately 2-3 million tonnes of it produced each year for use in our plastic products, and it has been widely used from the early part of the 20th century, because it has the ability to make plastic clear and strong. Common polycarbonate products with BPA as an integral ingredient include plastic containers, carrier bags, baby's bottles, eye glasses and cd's/dvd's. It is also used in epoxy resins, which often form a protective lining on the inside of metal food and beverage cans, but this widespread usage has only been seriously questioned since 2008, when many governments began to publicly question it's alleged side-effects, although there had been some questions circulating about it's safety since the 1930's.

THE FDA NEEDS TO BACKTRACK ON BISPHENOL A
Back in August 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared that BPA was safe for all uses, and to this day, the plastics companies and food/product manufacturers point to this finding by America's food regulatory body as proof of the safeness of their product. But this finding has been challenged since the day it was made, by various studies from other countries' regulatory bodies, by independent research teams, and by other federal and state regulatory entities within the US, and now the FDA is about to announce a revision of it's original findings. The FDA is expected to ban it's use in certain products, or to limit it's use in some way, and this move has only been facilitated by the added knowledge which we now have of this useful, but probably fatal, substance. It has been linked to cancer, behavioural changes, obesity, diabetes, reproductive harm, problems with intestinal function, and with the sheer amounts of BPA used in babies products, a special emphasis is being put on babies being affected. Canada has gone as far as banning BPA as a toxin, and forbidding it's use in baby's bottles whatsoever. And many studies have been taking place all over the World which are gaining recognition from various national and international health authorities.

ONE SUCH STUDY...
A Canadian study has found that BPA in a pregnant woman's system, at ultra low concentrations, can endanger the development of fetuses (French). Here is an English translation of a portion of their press brief... "Very low concentrations equivalent to one hundredth of that found in the blood of pregnant women are able to affect the main stem cells of fetal development, the researcher found in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Research indicates that Bisphenol A is able to easily cross the placenta to recover the body of the fetus. The study by Professor Aris said that the toxicological mechanisms caused by this chemical can lead to health problems such as preeclampsia (a rapid rise in blood pressure and kidney damage during pregnancy), impaired growth fetus, premature births and miscarriages".

HOW DOES BISPHENOL A GET INTO OUR BODIES?
The problem with BPA is that it has been found to migrate from the plastic manufactured compounds, when it is heated to high temperatures regularly. And what do we put in baby's bottles? Boiling water! This synthetic female hormone, which BPA ultimately is, then ends up in the baby formula, to be ingested by the baby. When other plastic products are heated (think plastic packaging/container in the microwave), the same thing can happen. BPA gets set free, and it can then find it's way into our food or drinks. Or it will be left in our environment, building contamination in our homes without us knowing it. When introduced into a child's system from a young age, it can be extra harmful, as it can be for pregnant women, and to the unborn child too, but it should worry us all, because we could all be affected by it's now lengthy list of possible associated conditions.

WHO WILL ACT?
Will the FDA announce a tightening of the scope of use of BPA? Will the US Senate vote to outlaw it in baby products? Those are the next critical steps for this substance to begin disappearing from the US environment, and if they both happened, that would probably be a catalyst for other countries to also follow suit. New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand have put forward their proposed 'BPA-Free Kids Act' for the Senate to mull over, and the FDA are about to make some sort of public announcement, after long passing their November 30th deadline to do so. So it does seem that things are moving along, but I do worry about the miniscule mainstream media attention which this story is generating. Many of the World's largest news corporations simply have not even mentioned Bisphenol A (BPA) during the month of December, and this is even with many lobby groups attempting to publicise this particular threat to the public. Even elements of the sex industry are crying out for it to be banned in sex toys. It's time to get this debate into the public domain, and to publicly discuss all of the research data which has been finalised to date. An answer to the question of a complete ban on Bisphenol A, lies in that data.

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