BPA AND THE EFFECTS

Bpa or Bisphenol Ain water bottles is no6t a topic that we have

thought of in the past few years till now, this “bottle drama” was first
suspected in the 1930’s but was never researched till recently. BPA has a
low acute toxicity. Low doses of bisphenol A can mimic the body's own
hormones, possibly causing negative health effects. These health effects
include about damages to fetal and infant brain development and behavior
some concern for effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in
fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures to bisphenol A,
minimal concern for effects on the mammary gland and an earlier age for
puberty for females in fetuses, infants, and children at current human
exposures to bisphenol A. some effect of BPA are shown below.

Selected studies on low dose bisphenol A exposure in animals

Effects (measured in studies of mice or rats,

Dose Study
descriptions (in quotes) are from
(µg/kg/day) Year
Environmental Working Group)

0.025 "Permanent changes to genital tract" 2005

"Changes in breast tissue that predispose cells to

0.025 2005
hormones and carcinogens"

2 "increased prostate weight 30%" 1997

"lower bodyweight, increase of anogenital distance

2 in both genders, signs of early puberty and longer 2002
estrus."

2.4 "Decline in testicular testosterone" 2004

2.5 "Breast cells predisposed to cancer" 2007

"Prostate cells more sensitive to hormones and

10 2006
cancer"

10 "Decreased maternal behaviors" 2002

"Reversed the normal sex differences in brain

30 2003
structure and behavior"
 U.S. human exposure limit (not a result from an
50 1998
animal study, but a guideline set by EPA)

The study above shows that BPA does have a major affect on our body
and we need to learn how decrease the amount of BPA we ingest.

There are many ways to decrease the amount of BPA we ingest per-
day. The first question is what type of bottles and can we can drink out of
without ingesting BPA. There are many alternatives to plastic. Although you
may have become attached to your everyday plastic water bottle it is
important to discover your choices. The everyday stainless steel water
bottles are a very good choice. Others include the metal lined water bottles
or glass water bottles.