Eating It? BPA Found in Surprising Places

I’ve been concerned about the industrial compound bisphenol A (BPA) ever since I first read about it, and have been chronically frustrated by its potential harm and prevalence in our environment–most specifically in our food, and hence, our bodies. More than 100 peer-reviewed studies have found BPA to be toxic at low doses. BPA is a synthetic estrogen and commonly used to strengthen plastic and line food cans. As Nicholas D. Kristof points out in an Op-Ed in The New York Times on Sunday, scientists have linked it, though not conclusively, to everything from breast cancer to obesity, from attention deficit disorder to genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike.

Anyway. It’s easy to slip into the (wishful) thinking that the FDA is protecting us from toxic threats like this, and that we probably, hopefully, aren’t getting enough of these chemicals to have much of an effect. But now comes Consumer Reports’ latest tests of canned foods including soups, juice, tuna, and green beans. The findings? Almost all of the 19 name-brand foods tested contain some BPA. The canned organic foods they tested did not always have lower BPA levels than nonorganic brands of similar foods analyzed. And, this was crushing to me, they even found the chemical in some products in cans that were labeled “BPA-free.”

The site reports that a 165-pound adult eating one serving of canned green beans from the test sample, could ingest about 80 times more BPA than their experts’ recommended upper daily limit. Children eating multiple servings per day of canned foods with BPA levels comparable to the ones they found in some tested products could get a dose of BPA approaching levels that have caused adverse effects in several animal studies.

The FDA says it isn’t a threat, but body burden studies show that BPA was detected in 95 percent of the people included in one sampling–it’s obviously getting to us somehow. Perhaps most telling is that in Japan major manufacturers voluntarily changed their can linings in 1997 to cut or eliminate the use of BPA because of concerns about health effects. A 2003 Japanese study found that the levels of the chemical in subjects’ urine dropped by 50 percent after the change in cans was made. Time to kick the cans!

Next: Stop eating BPA, here’s how

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Cheryl B.

6:38PM PST on Feb 18, 2011

scary

send a green star

Michael D.

11:02AM PST on Dec 17, 2010

I personally have been avoiding BPA all costs since I found out about nearly 6 month's ago.
I'm trying to boost my testosterone and my metabolic rate, not add a synthetic feminizing endocrine disruptor that mimics estrogen!

Chavonne H.

10:09PM PDT on Sep 28, 2010

the fda doesn't seem to care about our health.

Elisabeth R.

4:05PM PDT on Sep 24, 2010

Thank you for making me / us aware of Bisphenol A. Curiously enough, in the 70's & 80's I was employed with companies involved in exchange and barter trade in Communist Europe and Bisphenol A figured quite a lot as a product exported from USA to Eastern Europe - Poland in particular.
Little did I know.......

I hardly ever eat canned food, but remember a kind of white (plastic-like) coating inside the cans then.

This no longer seems to appear anymore in UK canned food. Having looked more closely at cans in the last couple of months, I also can't see any mention of BPA on the packaging.

Our local supermarket is ASDA a subsidiary of Walmart in UK. Are you telling me that even their cash receipts are covered in Bisphenol A??
Scary! I often need to keep the receipts (as I also shop for a neighbour), but will make sure I wash my hands when I get home.
Thank you for posting.

Monique D.

9:23AM PDT on Sep 24, 2010

Thanks

Max M.

7:06AM PDT on Sep 24, 2010

WARNING - I just the bottom of my ARROWHEAD large water containers for the water cooler and guess what, yep, a small triangle made up of 3 arrows and 7 right in the middle. I'm calling Arrowhead today to confirm and cancel my order with them. I stopped using canned products a long time ago and switched to Pyrex; the plastic lids of which as labeled: 7402 PC Man, this is very distressing and in case anyone doesn't get it, the FDA doesn't stand for Food & Drug Admin, it stands for F**king Dumb A**holes. Big Plastic has Big Money to buy our politicians and government, thanks to the Supreme Cowards - nee Court - that allowed politics to be bought and sold and just so we're all clear, it was the Death Of Democracy.

Chandra K.

3:12AM PDT on Sep 24, 2010

Avoiding canned food ought not be that difficult, at least for the average person. But that doesn't mean that BPA shouldn't be get rid off.

Teresa P.

1:08AM PDT on Sep 4, 2010

Scary...Thanks

Past Member .

5:09PM PDT on Aug 29, 2010

ban bpa its like genocide, canned foods are mostly aimed towards poor people and so they are trying to get rid of us so we wont complain

11:10AM PDT on Aug 25, 2010

BPA was tested on so many animals before it was put on the market, and the "results" were that BPA was safe for humans. ANIMAL TESTING IS STUPID, different breeds of mice give very different results, sometimes even opposite ones, so how do you expect testing on mice to tell anything about how humans will react? The best way to fight for our health is to ask the governments and companies to stop animal testing and replace it by effective methods. For more info go to http://whitecoatwelfare.org/aat-text.shtml.
Thank you!
"Animal experimentation is not necessary. It is expensive. It is inaccurate. It is misleading. It consumes limited resources. And further, it is detrimental to the very species it professes to be working to help -- humankind." ~ Dr.s Ray & Jean Greek