Potential danger from a common plastic, BPA

I have to admit that since starting my organic chemistry class, I've started to pay more attention to what I put in my body. While the chemical industry has undoubtedly improved the lives of countless people, it has harmed just as many.

The complexity of the chemical reactions that are occurring in your body right now dwarf our industrial counterpart. But the latter has the ability to dream up and manufacture compounds that never occur in nature, or that are sufficiently close to natural ones to confuse or harm living cells.

The U.S. government has recently issued a warning that there may be some danger from bisphenol A (BPA), a common ingredient in plastics (particularly polycarbonate). Note that polycarbonate is often used in the manufacture of baby bottles.

BPA can mimic the effects of estrogen in developing mammals and may increase the risk of prostate and breast cancer later in life. It has been used since the 1950s.

If you want to avoid BPA:

Under normal conditions, low levels of BPA leaches into contents from polycarbonate plastic bottles, which can be recognized by the number 7 in the recycling code or the letters PC. Recent studies show that the chemical leaks at faster rates after a lot of wear and tear or when exposed to hot liquid. "If this is of concern to parents or pregnant women, then clearly they should use plastics that don't leach BPA," Bucher says. "Don't mistreat polycarbonate-containing plastics by putting really hot things in them or things that would make migration more rapid."

Note that BPA is also used as part of the lining in cans used by the food industry.