A Chemical Found in Most Consumer Products May Cause Heart Disease in Women

By Elizabeth Grossman, AlterNet. Posted June 18, 2009.

Bisphenol A is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in food contact and other consumer products. But as evidence of the chemical's potential adverse health impacts grows, there are increasing efforts to regulate the compound.

Numerous states have introduced bills that would bar BPA from infant and children's products, but thus far only two have passed, one in Chicago, the other in Minnesota. However, a number of U.S. retailers have withdrawn such products voluntarily, among them Wal-Mart and Toys R Us. Canada has banned BPA from baby bottles sold there and now includes BPA on its list of toxic substances.

The chemical and plastics industry maintains that BPA is safe, as does the North American Metal Packaging Alliance, whose members use BPA in food-can lining. "The science supporting the safe use of epoxy liners in food contact applications is both extensive and extensively analyzed," said a statement released by NAMPA on May 30 in response to news media reports of a plastics and packaging industry meeting convened to craft a campaign to defend BPA safety. 

"The scientific evidence supporting the safety of bisphenol A has been repeatedly and comprehensively examined by government and scientific bodies worldwide. In every case, these assessments support the conclusion that bisphenol A is not a risk to human health at the extremely low levels to which people might be exposed," says a statement from the Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group of the American Chemistry Council.

Responding specifically to Belcher's study and other as-yet-unpublished research presented at the Endocrine Society meeting, the ACC said, "Bypassing the scientific process in favor of sensational press releases is a scare tactic that will not promote public health." The ACC also questions the relevance to human health of BPA research conducted with animals.

"It should be noted that the Endocrine Society's conclusions directly conflict with the findings of authoritative scientific reviews," the ACC said in an additional statement released June 10. "In fact, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has stated it is 'somewhat reassuring that after substantial research in the past decade, there have been no conclusive findings of low-level environmental exposures to EAS [endocrine active substances] causing human disease."

While not confirmation of any direct cause and effect, research published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people exposed to higher levels of BPA are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than those who were not. This study was based on samples from nearly 1,500 adults collected by the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

"For women, exposure to any environmental estrogens could be very important after a heart attack," said Belcher. Many women also experience arrhythmia during pregnancy, and the severity of an existing arrhythmia can worsen during pregnancy, so anything that would increase such risks would be of concern to both maternal and fetal health.

Given the strong evidence of multiple adverse health impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenol A, the Endocrine Society -- which has over 14,000 members from over 100 countries -- recommends decreasing exposure to these chemicals. Meanwhile, the FDA is continuing its own review of BPA safety.

See more stories tagged with: health, envirohealth, bpa, bisphenol a

Elizabeth Grossman writes about science and environmental issues from Portland, Ore. Her most recent book is High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health.

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