Widely Used Plastic Leaches Dangerous ChemicalBy Marla Cone Los Angeles Times

[Guest guest]

" Zeus " <info

 

 

Widely Used Plastic Leaches Dangerous Chemical

Sun, 17 Apr 2005 15:29:45 +0100

 

 

 

 

 

Widely Used Plastic Leaches Dangerous ChemicalBy Marla Cone Los

Angeles Times

4-15-5

 

Evidence is mounting that a chemical in plastic may be risky in

the small amounts that seep from bottles and food packaging, according

to a report to be published this week in a scientific journal.

Authors of the report, who reviewed more than 100 studies, urged

the Environmental Protection Agency to re-evaluate the risks of

bisphenol A and consider restricting its use.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, has been detected in nearly all human bodies

tested in the United States. It is a key building block in the

manufacture of hard, clear, polycarbonate plastics, including baby

bottles, water bottles and other food and beverage containers. The

chemical can leak from plastic, especially when containers are heated,

cleaned with harsh detergents or exposed to acidic foods or drinks.

The plastics chemical is the focus of one of the most-contentious

debates involving industrial compounds that can mimic sex hormones.

Toxicologists say exposure to man-made hormones skews the developing

reproductive systems and brains of newborn animals, and could be

having the same effects on human fetuses and young children.

Since the late 1990s, some experiments have found no effects at

the doses of BPA that people are exposed to, while others suggest that

it is estrogenic, blocks testosterone and harms lab animals at low

doses. Plastics-industry representatives say the trace amounts that

migrate from some products pose no danger and are far below safety

thresholds set by the EPA and other agencies.

In the new report, to be published online tomorrow in

Environmental Health Perspectives, scientists Frederick vom Saal and

Claude Hughes say that, as of December, 115 studies have been

published examining low doses of the chemical, and 94 found harmful

effects.

In an interview yesterday, vom Saal, a reproductive biologist at

University of Missouri, Columbia, said there is now an " overwhelming

weight of evidence " that the plastics compound is harmful.

" This is a snowball running down a hill, where the evidence is

accumulating at a faster and faster rate, " vom Saal said. " You can't

open a scientific journal related to sex hormones and not read an

article that would just floor you about this chemical. ... The

chemical industry's position that this is a weak chemical has been

proven totally false. This is a phenomenally potent chemical as a sex

hormone. "

In their study, vom Saal and Hughes suggest an explanation for

conflicting results of studies: 100 percent of the 11 funded by

chemical companies found no risk, while 90 percent of the 104

government-funded, nonindustry studies reported harmful effects.

Steven Hentges, executive director of the polycarbonate business

unit of the American Plastics Council, said yesterday that the new

report lists numbers of studies and pieces of data without analyzing

them to determine their strengths or weaknesses and relevance to human

beings.

" The sum of weak evidence does not make strong evidence, " Hentges

said. " If you look at all the evidence together, it supports our

conclusion that BPA is not a risk to human health at the very low

levels people are exposed to. This paper does not change that

conclusion. It has an opinion, not a scientific conclusion. "

There has been an escalating battle between vom Saal and the

plastics industry since 1997, when vom Saal was the first to reveal

low-dose effects in mice exposed to BPA. His discovery triggered a

rash of new scientific studies by industry and government.

The chemical, used in polycarbonate plastics manufactured for half

a century, is not subject to any bans.

Polycarbonate plastics, useful in items such as baby bottles

because they are durable, lightweight and shatter-resistant, cannot be

made without BPA.

2005 The Seattle Times Company

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002239760_plastic13.html

 

 

forwarded by

Zeus Information Service

Alternative Views on Health

www.zeusinfoservice.com

 

All information, data and material contained, presented or provided

herein is for general information purposes only and is not to be

construed as reflecting the knowledge or opinion of Zeus Information

Service.

Subscribe Free/Un: info

Feel free to forward far and wide....