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| Raising Our Voices |
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Bisphenol A -- Breast Cancer Risk?
A flurry of recent news stories focused on a controversial chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) and its relationship to health. Bisphenol A is an industrial chemical found in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy coatings. It is used in many products including bicycle helmets, compact disks, and automotive parts. However, its use in plastic baby bottles, 5-gallon water bottles, "sport" water bottles, metal food can liners, and some clear plastic cutlery is the focus of concern because these are the potential routes for human exposure. The recycling symbol for these products is "7." The National Geographic Society's "Green Guide," Issue 114, states, "Depending on whom you talk to, BPA is either perfectly safe or a dangerous health risk."
Cornell University's Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors defines bisphenol A as an environmental estrogen. The program's web site states, "Because lifelong exposure to estrogen increases breast cancer risk, there is concern that exposure to environmental estrogens, even at low levels, can add up and work together with the body's own estrogen to increase the risk of breast cancer."
In the August 2005 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, Frederick S. vom Saal of the University of Missouri and Claude Hughes of Department of Medical and Scientific Services, Quintiles, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and the Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, proposed that "a new risk assessment for BPA is needed based on a) the extensive new literature reporting adverse effects in animals at doses below the current reference dose; b) the high rate of leaching of BPA from food and beverage containers, leading to widespread human exposure; c) reports that the median BPA level in human blood and tissues, including in human fetal blood, is higher than the level that causes adverse effects in mice; and d) recent epidemiologic evidence that BPA is related to disease in women."
On April 14, 2008, the National Toxicology Program (NTP), a program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, issued a Draft Brief on bisphenol A. The brief concurs that human exposure to bisphenol A is widespread. "The 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found detectable levels of bisphenol A in 93% of 2517 urine samples from people 6 years and older." However, the brief also states, "Only a very small number of studies have looked at associations between bisphenol A exposure and disorders of reproduction or developmental effects in humans." The brief concludes that there is "some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures," and "some concern for bisphenol A exposure in these populations based on effects in the prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for puberty in females."
Britt E. Erickson, in the June 2, 2008 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, writes, "Consumer products containing bisphenol A (BPA), a high-production-volume chemical used to manufacture polycarbonate plastic and epoxy-based resins, have been on the market for more than 50 years. The chemical industry and federal regulatory agencies around the world insist that, on the basis of the available science, those products are safe when used as directed."
On May 14, 2008, Norris Alderson, Ph.D., a senior scientist at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), testified before a Senate subcommittee on consumer affairs, "Although the Agency's review of the newly available reports is continuing, a large body of available evidence indicates that currently-marketed food contact materials containing BPA are safe, and that exposure to BPA from food contact materials, including exposures for infants and children, are below the levels that may cause health effects."
The National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) is following this issue very carefully. NBCC "would like to see more research to understand BPA's effects at low exposure levels, and also to see more human studies done of the health effects of this common chemical."
If you are concerned about BPA, you can download a copy of the "Smart Plastics Guide" published by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). The guide summarizes the health concerns of many plastics and includes tips for choosing alternatives. You can also contact NHBCC at 603-659-3482 for a printout of the guide. |
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| 18 Belle Lane, Lee, NH 03861-6438 • Phone: 603.659.3482 • E-mail: info@nhbcc.org |
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