Monday, August 16, 2010

Another thing that's bad for us

91 per cent of Canadians have detectable levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in their urine, according to a new Statistics Canada report. Bisphenol A (BPA) mimics estrogen in the body. The average level of BPA found in the Canadian population was 1.16 parts per billion, about a thousand times higher than natural levels of estrogen found in the body. BPA is found in Polycarbonate plastics, with applications in some food and drink packaging, such as water and infant bottles, CDs and DVDs, impact-resistant safety equipment, and medical devices. It is also found in epoxy resins used as lacquers to coat metal products such as food cans, bottle tops, and water supply pipes. Some dental sealants and composites may also contain BPA as can eyeglass lenses. Other less-known sources of BPA include pizza boxes made of recycled cardboard, some toilet paper, recycled paper, credit card receipts at the gas station and restaurant, wine (fermented in BPA-resin lined vats), beer (likewise), Rubbermaid polycarbonate-lined baking tins used by Subway, pop cans, plastic cups, plastic cutlery, blue-tinted hard plastic 5-gallon drinking water bottles.

So it's no wonder that we have it in our bodies. What can we do? The logical thing is to avoid plastics when possible. Try to use glass containers more often, especially when heating food or drink. Is it overkill? Maybe. But many people like to err on the side of caution.

The good news is that once oil becomes scarce, we'll be making less plastics, so this will all sort itself out in a few decades.

No comments: