"Bisphenol A, a chemical that generates $6 million a day for its manufacturers, is a poster child for everything that's wrong with the American way of dealing with chemicals. We hand over to the manufacturer the responsibility for testing their own product, rely on their word as to its safety, and forbid the government to do its own testing. We allow outmoded science as the yardstick. Scientists-for-hire and product defense companies dominate the research, while complicit government regulators ignore the massive body of findings of harm generated by independent scientists. We perpetuate a tangle of regulatory oversight. In sum, we put private profits over our national interest in children's health."

—Philip and Alice Shabecoff, authors of Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on Our Children.

Toxic chemicals: Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A (BPA)

Commonly Found In:

Health Concerns:

Safer Products:

• Water bottles made from stainless steel or aluminum such as Klean Kanteen or Sigg
• Baby bottles and “sippy” cups made from glass, stainless steel, or polyethylene (#1) or polypropylene (#2) plastic.
• Foods packaged in glass containers

Learn more about BPA and other Endocrine Disruptors

 

New, Compelling Science on BPA

Several new studies on BPA have found the chemical to be of concern for adverse health effects. Read a summary of recent studies on BPA.

More About BPA

Bisphenol A (BPA), is a synthetic chemical that mimics the human hormone estrogen and can leach from polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins.¹ Human exposure to BPA is widespread. A Centers for Disease Control study detected BPA in the urine of 95 percent of adults sampled.² Scientists have measured BPA in the blood of pregnant women, in umbilical cord blood and in the placenta, all at levels shown to cause harm in laboratory animals.^3,4

Bisphenol A has been found to stimulate prostate cancer cells ⁵ and causes breast tissue changes in mice that resemble early stages of breast cancer in both mice and humans. ^6,7

Early life exposure to BPA can also cause genetic damage, including chromosomal errors at low levels of exposure in mice, which can lead to spontaneous miscarriages and birth defects.⁸ As for human data, one study found that women with a history of recurrent miscarriages had over 3-fold higher levels of BPA in their blood compared to women without a miscarriage history.⁹

As of 2007, ninety-two percent of 163 government-funded published animal studies found significant developmental, reproductive or immune effects from low-level exposure to BPA. None of the thirteen industry-funded studies found significant effects.¹⁰ Animal studies document low dose effects at exposure levels hundreds of times lower than the current EPA safety threshold.

1. KL Howdeshell, Peterman PH, Judy BM et al. "Bisphenol A is released form used polycarbonate animal cages into water at room temperature." Environmental Health Perspectives 111(2003): 1180-87.
2. AM Calafat, Kuklenyik, Reidy J et al. "Urinary concentrations of bisphenol A and 4-nonylphenol in a human reference population." Environmental Health Perspectives 113(2005): 391-395.
3. G Schonfelder, Wittfoht W, Hopp H et al. "Parent bisphenol A accumulation in the maternal-fetal-placental unit." Environmental Health Perspectives 110(2004): A703-A707.
4. Y Ikezuki, Tsutsumi O, Takai Y et al. "Determination of bisphenol A concentrations in human biological fluids reveals significant early prenatal exposure." Hum Reprod. 17 (2002): 2839-2841.
5. YB Wetherill, Petre C, Monk KR et al. "The Xenoestrogen Bisphenol A Induces Inappropriate Androgen Receptor Activation and Mitogenesis in Prostatic Adenocarcinoma Cells." Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 1(2002): 515-524.
6. CM Markey, Luque EH, Munoz de Toro M et al. "In Utero Exposure to Bisphenol A Alters the Development and Tissue Organization of the Mouse Mammary Gland." Biology of Reproduction 65(2001): 215-1223.
7. M Munoz-de-Toro, Markey C, Wadia PR et al. "Perinatal exposure to bisphenol A alters peripubertal mammary gland development in mice." Endocrinology May 26, 2005, accessed June 1, 2005 http://endo.endojournals.org/.
8. PA Hunt, Koehler KE, Susiarjo M et al. "Bisphenol A exposure causes meiotic aneuploidy in the female mouse." Current Biology 13 (2003): 546-553.
9. M Sugiura-Ogasawara, Ozaki Y, Sonta SI et al. "Exposure to bisphenol A is associated with recurrent miscarriage." Hum Reprod. (2005) [Epub ahead of print]
10. University of Missouri Endocrine Disruptor Group. F. vom Saal. October 2006. http://endocrinedisruptors.missouri.edu/vomsaal/vomsaal.html.