Report points to risk in widely used plastic (bottles and food packaging)

[enough]

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/11471879.htm


Report points to risk in widely used plastic

Scientists want the EPA to review bisphenol A. Used in food packaging, it may mimic hormones.
By Marla Cone
Los Angeles Times


Evidence is mounting that a chemical in plastic that is one of the world's most widely used industrial compounds may be risky in the small amounts that seep from bottles and food packaging, according to a recent report in a scientific journal.

The authors of the report, who reviewed more than 100 studies, urged the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the risks of bisphenol A and consider restricting its use.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, has been detected in nearly all human bodies tested in the United States. It is a key building block in the manufacture of hard, clear, polycarbonate plastics, including baby bottles, water bottles, and other food and beverage containers. The chemical can leak from the plastic, especially when the containers are heated, cleaned with harsh detergents or exposed to acidic foods or drinks.

The plastics chemical is the focus of one of the most contentious debates involving industrial compounds that can mimic sex hormones. Toxicologists say that exposure to man-made hormones skews the developing reproductive systems and brains of newborn animals and could be having the same effects on human fetuses and young children.

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[NMDemDist2]

1. sorry, don't want to register at the site, but "skews" the development

how?

[enough]

3. I looked for the LAT link, but don't see it anywhere.

The specific mechanism is not explained in the article, but the study is supposed to be online at Environmental Health Perspectives.

snip>

In the new report, which was published online in Environmental Health Perspectives earlier this month, scientists Frederick vom Saal and Claude Hughes said that as of December, 115 studies had been published examining low doses of the chemical, and 94 of them found harmful effects.

In an interview, vom Saal, a reproductive biologist at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said there was now an "overwhelming weight of evidence" that the plastics compound is harmful.

"This is a snowball running down a hill, where the evidence is accumulating at a faster and faster rate," vom Saal said. "You can't open a scientific journal related to sex hormones and not read an article that would just floor you about this chemical... . The chemical industry's position that this is a weak chemical has been proven totally false. This is a phenomenally potent chemical as a sex hormone."

snip>

[gizmo1979]

2. I had heard about this.

Because I use the same plastic water bottle over and over.I freeze it at night so I have cold water at work.How dangerous is this?