Toxic taste

By Nicole Jones

del.ico.us | digg it! | reddit!

print | email | 1 Comments

Last Thursday, bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical commonly found in plastics, was put on trial by the City Council's Committee on Environment and Health. The gavel-happy councilor John Connolly, the committee's chair, held court in a concrete bunker cum City Hall assembly chamber and refereed testimony from experts in public health, chemistry and biology who debated BPA's potential health and environmental dangers.

BPA is found in pretty much everything: CDs, DVDs, sunglasses, car paint, Tupperware, plastic bottles, the lining of tin cans and people. Lab studies on animals have shown a link between BPA and fertility problems, obesity, early onset of puberty and cancer; a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that 93 percent of Americans over six years old have BPA in their bodies.

The widespread use of BPA in consumer products has been in the media spotlight of late, following the Canada's decision to classify BPA as a toxic substance and its ban on the sale of baby bottles containing the substance.

John Shea, director of Environmental Health Hazards at the Boston Public Health Commission expressed monotone concern about the chemical's effects south of the border. "The National Toxicology Program seems to believe it is a problem," he said. "I think it's pretty certain there is some effect ... "

But Dr. Steven Hentges, from the American Chemistry Council—an association that represents chemical manufacturers—says not so fast. He dismisses the recent news kerfuffle over BPA as "sensationalistic media attention."

"These are not new materials. They have been used safely for 50 years," he insisted. "It's one of the most studied chemicals."

Mia Davis from the Clean Water Fund and co-author of Baby's Toxic Bottle called BPA a "synthetic sex hormone" that leeches into food and beverages from plastics. She compared the chemical industry to the tobacco industry of the 1970s, accusing it of trying to confuse consumers. "BPA does not belong in food and beverages. Safer alternatives do exist already," she said. "It's very important we have federal, state and city action."