Bisphenol A (BPA) is used extensively in the production of plastics, particularly polycarbonates (PC). It’s used to make a range of plastic food containers, including baby bottles. It’s also found in the resin used to coat the inside of food cans, to stop the metal contaminating the food. BPA is one of a number of chemicals that may have the potential to interact with hormone systems in the body (a so-called ’endocrine disrupter’). It has been known since the 1930s that BPA can mimic the female sex hormone, oestrogen. (1)
Why the concern?
Roughly 95% of all baby bottles currently on the market are made from polycarbonate plastic (marked PC with the number 7 in a recycling symbol). (2)
It has caused concern because small amounts can migrate into foods or baby formula, especially if the plastic is damaged or breaks down. Very small amounts of BPA can transfer from the packaging into food and drinks. It’s possible that BPA might affect the hormone system in people’s bodies. Babies are particularly vulnerable to hormone mimicking effects because they are growing rapidly, both in the womb and in their early months and years.
That said, the UK Food Standard Agency position is that “there has been a lot of research carried out worldwide and there is still no conclusive evidence that these chemicals do have this effect in people.” (3)
However other countries have adopted a ‘better safe than sorry’ approach. Canada banned the use of BPA in polycarbonate baby bottles in 2008 and in 2009 six US polycarbonate bottle manufacturers announced their decision to voluntarily eliminate BPA from their products.
Recent studies have found that BPA can mimic or block the actions of our natural hormones, particularly oestrogen. Even at very low doses it has been linked to reduced sperm production, increased prostate weight and conditions such as endometriosis. It may also affect the onset of puberty in the offspring of some mammals. (4)
Research published in 2005 show that BPA can interfere with the development and cause irreversible damage. BPA has interfered with the development of every system in which it has been tested. The earlier the exposure, the greater the damage. Accumulating laboratory evidence suggests that exposure to BPA could be linked to breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, obesity, ADHD, and autism. (5)
More recently, in 2009, a research team from the University of Exeter, Peninsula Medical School, the University of Plymouth and the University of Iowa, found evidence linking Bisphenol A (BPA) to diabetes and heart disease in adults. (6)
A recent UK study by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) found that BPA is released from babies’ bottles after they have undergone heat treatment; bottle washing, dishwashing, sterilisation or heating in the microwave, something that happens to most babies’ bottles on a daily basis.
US research, “Baby’s Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Baby Bottles,” released by environmental health groups in the U.S. and Canada also demonstrates the toxic chemical bisphenol A leaches from plastic baby bottles when heated. When published, ninety-five percent of all baby bottles on the US market were made with bisphenol A. The results of the U.S. study showed that when new bottles are heated, those manufactured by Avent, Evenflo, Dr. Brown’s and Disney/First Years leached between 4.7 – 8.3 parts per billion of bisphenol A. (7)
Sources:
1 European Food Safety Authority Bisphenol-A FAQ
2 Ethical Consumer Baby Bottle Guide
3 UK Foods Standard Agency (FSA), 2008 Andrew Wadge, Chief Scientist, Baby Bottle Safety
4 WWF report,Bisphenol A: a known endocrine disruptor, highlights a range of evidence demonstrating the impacts of this chemical on wildlife and human health.
5 vom Saal F, Hughes C. 2005. Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 8, August 2005 An extensive new literature concerning low-dose effects of bisphenol A shows the need for a new risk assessment.
6 University of Exeter, University team finds link between common chemical and disease in adults
7 The Centre for Health, Environment and Justice, Baby’s Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Baby Bottles
Scientific American, February 2008, Plastic (Not) Fantastic: Food Containers Leach a Potentially Harmful Chemical
NCT Bisphenol A — Risk From Baby Feeding Bottles
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