Dear Betty,
You sometimes mention BPA when you talk about plastic. What exactly is BPA?
Thank you,
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for your question and thank you for reading! I looked into BPA a little closer and below is a summary of what I found.
Thanks,
Betty
Bisphenol A, better known as BPA is used in the production of polycarbonate plastics. Polycarbonate plastics are typically used for food and beverage containers, water bottles, and baby bottles. It is used to line water pipes and it is used as a coating in food and beverage cans. It is also used in thermal paper coating. Annually, over 4 million tons of BPA are released into the environment according to the EPA.
BPA is potentially harmful to everyone with those most easily affected being pregnant women, newborn babies, and small children. People are mostly exposed to BPA and other Bisphenols through their diet. It is consumed after leaching into food and drink.
BPA binds to estrogen receptors and can wreak havoc on the body. BPA is an endocrine disruptor that can affect thyroid function, reproductive organs, cause developmental issues, and can cause metabolic disease. BPA has a link to prostate cancer, breast cancer, infertility, PCOS, and asthma.
BPA has largely been replaced with another bisphenol, BPS. BPS is in the same bisphenol family and shares a similar structure to its BPA counterpart. BPS so closely resembles BPA that studies are suggesting that it could be as bad as BPA or even worse.
It seems reasonable to avoid BPA, BPS, and other bisphenols as well as any plastic whenever possible.
Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion?
I'd love to hear from you!
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