Bisphenol-A (BPA) in Bottled Water
Another reason to stop buying bottled water is the release of independent studies regarding bisphenol-A (BPA) and how this chemical may be adversely affecting our health. First synthesized in 1891, BPA is used in the production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics worldwide. It is used to make plastic bottles of all kinds and is often used as a coating inside canned goods to protect the contents from exposure to the metal. However, as these plastic bottles and canned goods age, BPA has a tendency to leach into the contents where, according to several studies, they adversely affect our health in many different ways.
The plastics industry says that BPAs are benign and that there is no cause for alarm but there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. According to its critics, BPA mimics naturally occurring estrogen, a hormone that is part of the endocrine system. "These hormones control the development of the brain, the reproductive system and many other systems in the developing fetus," says Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D., a developmental biologist at the University of Missouri. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can duplicate, block or exaggerate hormonal responses which lead to a wide range of developmental difficulties.
Results of several independent studies conducted by researchers in different parts of the world concluded that:
- In utero exposure to BPA causes long-term effects on mammary tissue development in rats, increasing risks to cancer, and also increases sensitivity to a chemical known to cause breast cancer. The study strengthens support for a link between increasing rates of breast cancer in recent decades and increasing exposure to estrogenic chemicals like BPA.
- Japanese researchers reported that bisphenol A levels are higher in women with a history of repeated spontaneous miscarriages. This research was based on proof that BPA causes meiotic aneuploidy (a change in the number of chromosomes that can lead to a chromosomal disorder) in mice. Meiotic aneuploidy is the most common cause of miscarriage in humans.
- Experiments with rats demonstrate that even low level exposure to bisphenol A during fetal growth causes breast cancer in adults. At all levels tested down to 2.5 parts per billion, BPA induced formation of aberrant cell growth patterns associated in rodents and people with breast cancer.
- Perinatal (5 months before and 1 month after birth) exposure to extremely low levels of bisphenol A causes precancerous prostate lesions in rats. These lesions, called prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, or PIN, are cancerous and are considered to be a precursor of metastatic prostate cancer in humans.
- BPA alters development of the reproductive tract, the immune system, increases prostate tumor proliferation, changes brain chemistry and structure and affects an array of behaviors, including hyperactivity.
These are just samples of the findings of BPA experiments conducted in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. As Science continues to search for a culprit in the rising rates of cancers, tumors, miscarriages, Down�s syndrome, birth defects, autism, and a wide range of other maladies, BPA figures to be at least a contributing factor. We are just in the beginning stages of understanding how BPA affects our health but given the preliminary findings, the outlook is not rosy. The next time that you reach for a plastic bottle of water to quench your thirst, think about the possible costs that have nothing to do with the price on the bottle.