On September 16, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration convened a panel of experts and defended its draft conclusion that the plastics chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, is safe, the Journal of the American Medical Association released a study showing a potential link between high levels of BPA and a variety of diseases. BPA is found in hard plastics and can linings, and the FDA’s own estimates suggest that formula-fed babies ingest 12.5 times more BPA per pound of body weight than the average adult.
The JAMA study doesn’t demonstrate a causal link between BPA and disease states, but British researchers studying BPA levels in the urine of almost 1,500 adults found that those with the highest levels were twice as likely to suffer from heart disease, diabetes, and liver-enzyme abnormalities as those with the lowest levels.
Previously, consumer activists have relied upon animal studies when questioning the safety of BPA. Those studies show that the chemical, in lab animals, affects the prostate and reproductive systems and acts as an estrogen mimic in the body, potentially leading to early puberty, cancers and behavioral problems. [...] The FDA has continued to insist the chemical is safe.
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Copyright © 2008 The Natural Foods Merchandiser
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