Plastics Chemical Linked to Heart Disease

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Plastics Chemical Linked to Heart Disease

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:46 AM

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Exposure to a chemical found in plastic containers is linked to heart

disease, scientists said on Wednesday, confirming earlier findings and adding

to pressure to ban its use in bottles and food packaging.

 

 

British and U.S. researchers studied the effects of the chemical bisphenol

A using data from a U.S. government national nutrition survey in 2006 and

found that high levels of it in urine samples were associated with heart

disease.

 

 

Bisphenol A, known as BPA, is widely used in plastics and has been a

growing concern for scientists in countries such as Britain, Canada and the

United States, where food and drug regulators are examining its safety.

 

 

David Melzer, professor of epidemiology and public health at the Peninsula

Medical School in Exeter, England, who led the study, said the research

confirmed earlier findings of a link between BPA and heart problems.

 

 

The analysis also confirmed that BPA plays a role in diabetes and some

forms of liver disease, said Melzer's team, who studied data on 1,493 people

aged

18 to 74.

 

 

" Our latest analysis largely confirms the first analysis, and excludes the

possibility that the original report was a statistical blip, " they said in

a statement.

 

 

BPA, used to stiffen plastic bottles and line cans, belongs to a class of

compounds sometimes called endocrine disruptors.

 

 

The U.S. Endocrine Society called last June for better studies into BPA

and presented research showing the chemical can affect the hearts of women

and permanently damage the DNA of mice.

 

 

" The risks associated with exposure to BPA may be small, but they are

relevant to very large numbers of people. This information is important since

it provides a great opportunity for intervention to reduce the risks, " said

Exeter's Tamara Galloway, who worked on the study published by the Public

Library of Science online science journal PLoS One.

 

 

U.S. environmental health advocacy groups are urging a federal ban on BPA.

 

 

" There's enough research to take definitive action on this chemical to

reduce exposures in people and the environment, " Dr. Anila Jacob of the

Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization, said in a telephone

interview.

 

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering whether any action

needs to be taken.

 

 

U.S. government toxicologists at the National Institutes of Health

concluded in 2008 that BPA presents concern for harmful effects on development

of

the prostate and brain and for behavioral changes in fetuses, infants, and

children.

 

 

Canada's government plans to outlaw plastic baby bottles made with BPA.

The charity Breast Cancer UK last month urged the British government to do

the same because they said there was " compelling " evidence linking the

chemical to breast cancer risk.

 

 

Experts estimate BPA is detectable in the bodies of more than 90 percent

of U.S. and European populations. It is one of the world's highest

production volume chemicals, with more than 2.2 million tons produced annually.

 

 

 

 

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