Drinking water from plastic bottles made with the toxic chemical
bisphenol A (BPA) increases urinary levels of the chemical by nearly 70
percent, according to a study conducted by researchers from Harvard
University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
BPA,
an industrial chemical that makes plastics hard and transparent, is
widely used in plastic drinking bottles, infant bottles and other
consumer products, and also in resins that line cans of food and infant
formula. The chemical has been shown to disrupt the hormonal system,
potentially leading to reproductive defects as well as brain damage,
cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes.
"These astonishing results should be a clarion call to lawmakers and public health officials that babies are being exposed to BPA, and at levels that could likely have an impact on their development," said Renee Sharp, of the Environmental Working Group.
"The adults in this study were willing participants who understood the
risk of exposure, but babies are unwitting victims of the silent but
serious threat this hormone-disrupting chemical poses to their health."
The study, conducted on 77 student volunteers, was published in the journal
Environmental Health Perspectives.
A
number of major retailers, including Toys R' Us, Wal-Mart, Nalgene,
Gerber, Playtex and others, have agreed to phase out the chemical in
some countries. The Environmental Working Group has published a guide
to BPA-free baby bottles and formulas, which can be found at www.ewg.org/babysafe.
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Drinking From Plastic Raises BPA Levels 70 percent
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By David Gutierrez
Natural News, Oct 14, 2009
Straight to the Source
