Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high production volume chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastic and several types of resins. Polycarbonate plastics are widely used in a variety of products including food and drink containers, CDs, DVDs, electrical and electronic equipment, automobiles, sports safety equipment.
Resins are used as a protective lining in metal food and drink containers and water supply pipes. In vitro and animal data indicate that BPA may mimic the natural female sex hormone, estradiol. Exposure to the general population can occur through direct contact to BPA or by exposure to food or drink that has been in contact with material containing BPA.
We have been hearing the rumours for a few years now but suddenly there has been a rash of new articles popping up that validate these nebulous rumours about drinking from water bottles left in hot cars and heating plastics in the microwave.
Plastic Bottles Release Potentially Harmful Chemicals (Bisphenol A) After Contact With Hot Liquids
ScienceDaily (Feb. 4, 2008) — When it comes to Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure from polycarbonate plastic bottles, it's not whether the container is new or old but the liquid's temperature that has the most impact on how much BPA is released, according to University of Cincinnati (UC) scientists.
Scott Belcher, PhD, and his team found when the same new and used polycarbonate drinking bottles were exposed to boiling hot water, BPA, an environmental estrogen, was released 55 times more rapidly than before exposure to hot water.
"Previous studies have shown that if you repeatedly scrub, dish-wash and boil polycarbonate baby bottles, they release BPA. That tells us that BPA can migrate from various polycarbonate plastics," explains Belcher, UC associate professor of pharmacology and cell biophysics and corresponding study author. "But we wanted to know if 'normal' use caused increased release from something that we all use, and to identify what was the most important factor that impacts release."
It would make sense. For us in the tropics- this is even more critical because so many of us are dependent on water that sits baking in black plastic tanks before coming into our taps and then into plastic bottles in the fridge. If you drink bottled water, who's to say that the cases of water don't sit on the delivery truck in scorching temeperatures before getting to you. I also drink gallons of diet coke, so let's not even go down the aspartame road. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Anyway it's worth keeping an eye on it- especially for our young girls- the water bottle has become a fashion statement- I agree, this seems like a ridiculous statement but in the bizarre way of trends- the carrying of a water bottle has become a symbol of the young, educated and helath conscious female. It's all tied in with clever marketing of purity concepts, and yoga and living clean- hence it will be an enormous feat to reverse this public perception and have people give up their water bottles. And is there enough proof?
If you have daughters, err on the side of caution and let's see if we can make the thermos a hip accessory. Or go back to the days when tap was fine.
I am now curious about things like half life and wonder how long BPA will stay in your body once exposed?
On another note, my Mama's birthday would have been on Wednesday- she would have turned 67.
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