Bisphenol-a, or BPA is widely used in the making of the hard, clear and nearly unbreakable plastic called polycarbonate. Studies and tests show that small amounts of BPA are leaching from polycarbonate containers into foods and liquids and possibly causing health problems. BPA may be linked to certain cancers, fertility and behavioral problems in children.

Wall Street Journal reports that “New Research Raises Concerns About BPA Levels in Humans”. Industry disputes the claims. Who knows who is right? We are not waiting. It does not cost a lot to avoid some products with BPA.

We have covered the dangers of the chemical BPA many times in the past. Harvard finds BPA in the body is now being leeched due drinking from water bottles with BPA.  Carefully examine your present bottle’s ingredients.  A spot check of a local Target indicated that most bottles have moved to being labeled BPA free.

Amazon has a BPA-free product list with lots of water bottles and baby bottles.

Sigg has a new BPA free metal water bottles with no plastic liner. Be more eco by saying no to BPA and bottled water. Save money too. Cafepress customizes the water bottles with custom graphics on it.

Most Whole Food stores sell these metal BPA free water bottles along with small ones to put in kid’s lunch boxes. Say no to wasteful and costly juice boxes.

Bottled water costs about $4 a gallon and people waste thousand of dollars on it each year. Only 30% of water bottles are recycled, causing many to end up in land fills or the ocean.

You might want to avoid drinking too much from water bottles with a sports top, straw on top, or a nozzle…

According to dermatologists, droves of women (and some men) are visiting their doctors, worried by the lines and wrinkles around their lips, typically called  “smoker’s lip” due to the pattern of wrinkles found around the lips of smokers.

The problem is, these folks are not smokers.  When you drink by sucking from certain water bottles, you are making the same gesture you are when you’re smoking. Over a short period of time, this sucking action creates wrinkles and lip lines around the mouth. Drink from these bottles too much and you will start to develop noticeable smoker’s lip within about 2 years.

Don’t forget to buy a BPA free ice cube tray.

Be sure to see our Tips to Avoid BPA Exposure

Bisphenol-a, or BPA is widely used in the making of the hard, clear and nearly unbreakable plastic called polycarbonate. Studies and tests show that small amounts of BPA are leaching from polycarbonate containers into foods and liquids and possibly causing health problems.

Avoiding the chemical BPA is much harder than we expected. Those with young children and infants need to be concerned even more.

Food and  Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a January 2010 update on Bisphenol A that says it many not be safe for children and infants.  In its report on BPA, the National Toxicology Program expressed “some concern for effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children at current human expo­sures to bisphenol A.”  It appears that young children have immature immune systems that may not detoxify BPA as well as adults.

If you are feeding an infant formula, make sure you are buying BPA-free product. Look carefully at the label and call the company to verify. Only use BPA free water bottles.

Environmental Working Group has a guide to avoiding BPA Exposure. The upshot is to eat more fresh food, use alternatives to canned items, and to use glass containers when heating food in microwaves.

Some interesting tidbits:

“FDA estimates that babies have 12.5 times more BPA exposure than adults, and EWG is concerned that FDA has seriously under-estimates exposures for many babies. Recent tests by Environmental Working Group and the Canadian government, and a 1990s test by FDA show BPA leaching from metal cans into all brands of liquid formula. Powdered formula appears to be BPA-free, therefore EWG recommends that parents choose powdered formula if your baby tolerates it.”

“Almost all canned foods sold in the United States have a BPA-based epoxy liner that leaches BPA into the food. EWG tested 97 canned foods and found detectable levels of BPA in more than half of the foods. The highest concentrations were in canned meats, pasta and soups.”

“Less BPA leaches from plastic water bottles and food containers than found in canned foods and baby formula. Nevertheless it is good to take simple precautions to reduce your exposure.”

Any product made of hard, clear plastic may be made from polycarbonate unless the manufacturer specifically states that it’s BPA-free. One way to check is to look for the recycling triangle stamp on or near the bottom on an item: polycarbonate plastics should have the numeral 7 in the triangle, sometimes with the letters PC for polycarbonate.

Unfortunately, 7 is a catchall “other” category for a variety of plastic items some of which do not contain BPA. If the plastic is soft and pliable, it is probably not made with BPA.

Plenty states that microwaving items causing BPA exposure situation is even worse. – “Some of the products would be expected to contain BPA, such as a Rubbermaid Premier container with a #7 recycling code, which includes polycarbonate plastic, known to be made with BPA. But to everyone’s surprise (including ours), BPA was also found to leach from containers with recycling #s 1, 2 and 5.”

Read more about BPA in Canned in Packaged Foods

Environmental Working Group EWG has detected as many as 232 chemicals in 10 newborns, all of minority descent.  For the first time, bisphenol BPA, a plastic component was found.

“Nine of 10 randomly selected samples of cord blood tested positive for BPA, an industrial petrochemical produced by the millions of tons annually to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. BPA has been implicated in a lengthening list of serious chronic disorders, including cancer, cognitive and behavioral impairments, endocrine system disruption, reproductive and cardiovascular system abnormalities, diabetes, asthma and obesity.”

We have covered BPA in food and water bottles previously. It is time people took this problem more seriously.

“And in November 2009, the American Medical Association Board of Delegates approved a resolution that called on the federal government to minimize the public’s exposure to BPA and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The measure was advanced by the Endocrine Society, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.”

We have covered the BPA controversy in the past and recommended people avoid certain canned and packaged foods to help limit exposure. BPA may be linked to certain cancers, fertility and behavioral problems in children.

Consumerreports.org has an article that finds BPA in soups, juice, and more.  The upshot is to eat more fresh food, use alternatives to canned items, and to use glass containers when heating food in microwaves.

“ Federal guidelines currently put the daily upper limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. But that level is based on experiments done in the 1980s rather than hundreds of more recent animal and laboratory studies indicating serious health risks could result from much lower doses of BPA. Several animal studies show adverse effects, such as abnormal reproductive development, at exposures of 2.4 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day. Our food-safety scientists recommend limiting daily exposure to one-thousandth of that level, or 0.0024 micrograms per kilogram of body weight, following established practices to ensure an adequate margin of safety. “

“The highest levels of BPA in our tests were found in the canned green beans and canned soup. In Progresso Vegetable Soup, the levels of BPA ranged from 67 to 134 ppb. In Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup, the levels of BPA ranged from 54.5 to 102 ppb. Canned Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans Blue Lake had BPA levels ranging from 35.9 ppb to 191 ppb, the highest amount for a single sample in our test. Since we didn’t test other canned green beans or soups, we don’t know if this is typical of those products.”

“A 165-pound adult eating one serving of canned green beans from our sample, which averaged 123.5 ppb, could ingest about 0.2 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day, about 80 times higher than our experts’ recommended daily upper limit. And children eating multiple servings per day of canned foods with BPA levels comparable to the ones we found in some tested products could get a dose of BPA approaching levels that have caused adverse effects in several animal studies.”

“Given the significance of BPA exposure for infants and young children, we tested samples of Similac Advance Infant Formula and Nestlé Juicy Juice All Natural 100% Apple Juice. Samples of the Similac liquid concentrate in a can averaged 9 ppb of BPA, but there was no measurable level in the powdered version. Samples of the Nestlé Juicy Juice in a can averaged 9.7 ppb BPA, but there were no measurable levels in the samples of the same product packaged in juice boxes.”

The conclusion is that BPA is present in many canned foods and beverages due to epoxy based can liners.  Plastic containers or bags are a better bet. Plastic containers with metal peel back lids may have the same expoxy based liners.

“The samples of Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli in Tomato and Meat Sauce packaged in a plastic container with a metal peel-off lid had BPA levels 1.5 times higher than the same brand of food in metal cans. Our test of the metal peel-back lid revealed that the inner coating is epoxy-based.”

Here is another site that says that Consumer Reports’ study has errors.

Best Deal Magazine has 1yr subscriptions to Consumer Reports at $23.95 less a discount code in our right column.

Read our Tips to Avoid BPA Exposure.

We have covered the dangers of the chemical BPA many times in the past. Harvard finds BPA in the body is now being leeched due drinking from water bottles with BPA.  Carefully examine your present bottle’s ingredients.  A spot check of a local Target indicated that most bottles have moved to being labeled BPA free.

Amazon has a BPA-free product list with lots of water bottles and baby bottles.

See our post on BPA Free Water Bottles