Boobies & BPA

So, I have posted about BPA before.

But since I keep seeing things in the news about BPA I thought I'd update. So far I think BPA has been linked to:

• Breast Cancer
• Hormone Disruption (Affects fertility, sperm count, genital deformity, early puberty, diabetes and obesity....)
• Heart Disease/High Cholesterol
• Diabetes & Obesity 
• Prostate Cancer & Another on Prostate Cancer
• Behavorial Problems
• Autism?

From the Environmental Working Group Site

The FDA keeps rejecting proposals to ban BPA. Why?

This article from The Atlantic offers up a great answer: "BPA has become a classic example of how point of view influences decisions about low-dose chemicals in the food supply for which the science is uncertain. If you are a believer in the "precautionary principle," any suggestion of harm is enough to support banning BPA until it is proven safe. European countries tend to subscribe to the precautionary principle. Sweden, for example, has just banned BPA. If, on the other hand, you believe that nothing should be banned until incontrovertibly demonstrated by science to cause harm, you won't act against BPA until the evidence for harm is overwhelming. That's the FDA's position. Even though the FDA is troubled by the lack of better information about the safety of BPA, it recently denied a petition from the National Resources Defense Council to ban it..." 

As a mom, I am definitely a believer in the precautionary principle, which is why my son still doesn't drink milk. It made him puke and gives him eczema, so rather than wait until it got really bad we took milk out of his diet.

Plus, it's always about money. The Real Story on BPA sheds some light on the economics of regulating BPA: "In the United States, industrial chemicals are presumed safe until proven otherwise. As a result, the vast majority of the 80,000 chemicals registered to be used in products have never undergone a government safety review. Companies are left largely to police themselves." This is no less disheartening as any other money-driven (but bad for humans) practice--GMO foods, pesticides in food, etc.

I'm not anti-corporation, but I do believe that a) our taxes pay the FDA to at least attempt to keep us safe (not keep money flowing to big corporations) and b) companies should be concerned about the effects of chemicals they make.

Generally, in America, we wait until things get really bad, undeniably bad, to do something. We don't change our diets and start exercising until 'officially diagnosed' with high blood pressure or high cholesterol. So it makes sense that we'd be stupid and reactive (rather than proactive) with things on a nation-wide scale as well.

Whereas the French, and many other European countries, really are the opposite. France has completely banned BPA. Everyone (you know, companies $ who make plastic things, companies $ who sell to France, regulatory agencies...) is angry at France now because this BPA ban is complicating things. Too damn bad, I say.

This is like how the WHOLE STATE OF CALIFORNIA has that proposition that I see every now and again on labels. It's something like, "This product is in compliance with California Proposition 63 and contains ingredients/chemicals which are known to the state of California to be carcinogenic." Or something like that. I used to be annoyed, but now I'm just grateful for the additional information. Anyhow, some manufacturers just started making California-friendly things for everybody. So will the people who sell crap to France.

I digress.

Part of the BPA puzzle that really bothers me is the reality that it is so widely used is difficult to avoid. This MSN article talks about how BPA is hiding in canned food, which honestly surprised the crap out of me. I have a lot of canned beans, veggies, tomato sauce, and now I'm not sure I want to use it. (Until the end of the world comes, then eating BPA will be small potatoes compared to starving....)

They suggest avoiding canned food, receipts, and all plastic: "Your skin readily absorbs the BPA coating on cash-register receipts, so when you make a purchase you don't need a receipt for, like, say, a cup of coffee, ask for no receipt when checking out...some No. 7 plastics contain BPA, but other plastics contain different harmful compounds, as well. Your best bet is to avoid plastic whenever possible, and never heat plastic in the microwave or clean it in the dishwasher."

This is next to impossible. I have tried lately to refuse my receipts at stores and the checkout person always look so wounded. Plus, what about their BPA exposure!?

This article (also from MSN) offers up yet more things to avoid: 

• Limit canned foods & beverages.
• Don’t store foods in plastic.
• Filter your drinking and cooking water.
• Filter your shower and tub water. (?! Seriously?)
• Don’t transport beverages in plastic mugs.
• Limit use of hard plastic water bottles
• Minimize hard plastics in the kitchen.
• Skip the water cooler.

The latest articles are of course about breast cancer. The Breast Cancer Fund has a great article about this Satanic BPA: "Bisphenol A (BPA) has been associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease, miscarriages, breast and prostate cancer, reproductive dysfunction, metabolic dysfunction and diabetes, and neurological and behavioral disorders...Present in many household products, BPA is also commonly found in the epoxy lining of metal food cans and in polycarbonate plastic food containers, including some baby bottles, microwave ovenware and eating utensils. Because BPA is an unstable polymer and is also lipophilic (fat-seeking), it can leach into canned foods..., infant formula and other food products..., especially when heated...Once in food, BPA can move quickly into people—a particular concern for women of childbearing age and young children. Two recent studies have explored the effects of increased ingestion of food and drink packaged in EDC-containing sources. Both found rapid (within a few days to a week) increases in BPA levels in urine and/or blood samples taken from subjects who intentionally increased their intake of common foods and drinks packaged in BPA-containing products..."

Graphic From Fast Company

I took out their extensive citations because it made it confusing to read but please go to the article directly to see the studies they reference. It's a really well-backed article. It goes on to talk about levels of BPA in humans and what studies have shown about BPA levels in other mammals and during gestation.

Plastic be bad, yo. It's all well and good to say that we should just live our lives, enjoy everything, and stop worrying so much. But I guess...that's easy to say until you get cancer or have hormone problems. Then all of a sudden it seems worthwhile to use Pyrex instead and get rid of your rubber spatulas (which, for the record, I have yet to do....) It's possible to try and avoid plastics and not be a basket case. I swear. :)