People often go throughout their day’s drinking water without considering the implications that the packaging of the water might have on it. The synthetic chemical BPA, or Bisphenol A is added to plastic polycarbonic packaging to make strong and transparent plastics that is used in food containers of plastic water bottles. Scott Belcher from the University of Cincinnati first demonstrated BPA migrating from various polycarbonic plastics from the packaging in baby bottles when they are scrubbed, put in the dishwasher, and put into boiling water. After his initial findings, he continued to test for what was the leading factor that caused the BPA to release and found the only difference to be the temperature of the bottle or liquid inside the container. If the liquid reaches boiling point temperature the BPA is released and it diffuses into the liquid inside the container. How old the container is not a factor in whether BPA is released or not.
BPA is a man-made chemical that is an endocrine distributor, which means it acts like or disrupts your body's hormones and interferes with your endocrine system. The glands and hormones released in your endocrine system have an effect on every cell, organ, and function of your body. Most Americans have BPA in their bloody system of a very minuscule amount of at least a range of one part per billion. Distributors of BPA try to convey that such a small amount does not cause a Problem but Patricia Hunt, a geneticist at Washington University thinks otherwise. Hunt thinks even low exposures to BPA can have a major effect of fertility and the development of the egg and sperm. In one of Hunt’s various studies of rhesus monkeys who were exposed to single or double doses of BPA or continuous low level doses resulted in damaged chromosomes, which could cause spontaneous miscarriages or birth defects.
As most testing on BPA has been on animals, distributors have argued that BPA would affect humans differently, but research in humans have shown similar risk. Besides fertility BPA has also caused several health concerns in adults such as structural damage to the brain, increased aggressiveness, impaired learning, stimulation of prostate cancer cells, and increased fat formation. BPA can also raise people's blood pressure within just hours of digestion and people with higher levels of BPA in their systems are twice as likely to develop coronary heart disease.
If BPA is bad for us, why is it still used? For one BPA is a thirteen trillion dollar industry and is set to expand 5% annually and brings in ten millions in sales daily and as the first rule of economics, follow the money. After concerns of BPA health risk, the FDA performed a four year long test and put out an announcement to confirm BPA’s safety but, skeptics say the FDA’s decision is a result of only studying biased industry funded studies, lobbying, and relationship between the FDA and the chemical industry who would lose the most if BPA is taken off the market. In 2008 in Canada , BPA was considered “toxic” and put under consideration for a limited ban. The European Union is considering to put regulations on BPA and endocrine regulatory drugs like it.
Many people consume BPA everyday by drinking out of plastic water bottles. An alternative to plastic bottled water is newly invented boxed water, The brand Boxed Water is Better is guaranteed 100% BPA free and has a pH of 6.4, very close to pure water that has a pH of 7. Boxed Water is less than a dollar but could save you thousands in health cost.
https://boxedwaterisbetter.com/pages/why-boxed-is-better
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/03/25/health-risks-bpa.aspx
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130092108.htm
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890623813003456
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2774166/
How can BPA specifically harm chromosomes? Also, is BPA only hazardous if exposed to high temperatures and diffused into the liquid, or can it be harmful by itself? (if so, how?)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I never knew that box water existed until this post. I can see that challenge that we are so accustomed to plastic and have a false assumption that it's safe. It makes me stop and think after all of the sports I've played grabbing a plastic bottle of water....what have I done to my body? I'm rethinking my choice of water. Wait until I tell my parents about this...WOW. Thanks for sharing this information.
ReplyDelete(This is 1 of my 2 comments, but I just had a question as well:) So at the beginning of your post you state that not until the liquid inside the container reaches boiling point does the BPA actually diffuse out into the liquid; so are the people who unfortunately end up drinking this boiled water the ones you are talking about when you say, "Many people consume BPA every day by drinking out of plastic water bottles"? In any case, I think I will become more wary about using plastic water bottles, and instead try to use a metal, reusable container, which is good for me (protecting from BPA) and the environment. Also, when you elaborated on what BPA actually is, being a man-made chemical, it was almost like déjà vu because it seems like almost every time I have heard of some man-made chemical entering into the body, it has some adverse effect. Here, the application to Biochemistry is a very worrying one. Also, I learned through your post about the endocrine system in the body, and the strong relationship here between Biology and Chemistry because of the chemicals that are the hormones that make up the endocrine system.
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