Hormone Disrupters in our Food and Water

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Plastics / Bisphenol A (BPA) Bisphenol A is suspect of being linked to several human epidemics Breast and prostate cancers Enlargement of prostate Early onset of puberty Obesity (Masuno 2002) Bisphenol A enters body Digestion of contaminated water and food Inhalation, entering through lungs Skin contact (same way birth control does in patch form) Mother’s blood stream to fetus Studies by the CDC found bisphenol A in the urine of 93%-95% of Americans (Calafat 2005, 2008) Suggests people are exposed regularly since bisphenol doesn't stay long in the body Products containing bisphenol A Plasitc water bottles Plastic food containers Plastic baby bottles (transparent plastic) detachable nipples have also been found to contain trace amounts of bisphenol A Plastic resin in canned foods and aluminium beverage containers Food containers from recycled paper (Ozaki) Dental sealants CDs and Toys The rate of bisphenol A leaching from plastic containers into foodstuffs is accelerated by Contact with lipids, such as those found in milk, formula, cheese, meat, and vegetable oils bisphenol A links to lipid molecules Contact with acidic foods, such as fruit juice Repeated washings Exposure to heat or sunlight (Belcher) Recommendations Avoid plastic food packaging and storage No plastic of any kind should be placed in heat, particularly the microwave Choose foods in glass bottles instead of plastic or metal containers with plastic liners Soy foods, containing a natural estrogens, may offer limited protection Other environmental contaminants Plastic pollutants in our lakes, streams, and oceans Bisphenol A found in water suspect cause of unusually high instances of hermaphrodism in wildlife (Tillitt D) Bisphenol A is hormonally ‘active’. It has an effect in cells at levels thousands of times lower than toxicology reports had previously deemed safe (Nagel S) Unlike natural estrogens such as those found in soy beans, bisphenol A does not bind to blood proteins, which normally acts like a barrier, keeping estrogens from entering the cell. Bisphenal A has been shown to stimulate human breast-cancer cells to proliferate in vitro (Welshons W) Bisphenal A has been shown to enlarge prostates in mice at dosages close to what humans are exposed to from sources such as food packaging (Nagel S, Environmental Health Perspectives, National Institute of Health, 1997) Bisphenol A has been shown to lower sperm counts in mice (Nagel S, 1997)

Chemical companies have infiltrated our government agencies and scientific communities In March 2008, a congressional inquiry found the FDA’s conclusion bisphenol A is safe was based on only two studies, both sponsored by the Society of the Plastics Industry, a subsidiary of the American Chemistry Council On late 1997, A representative from Dow Chemical (one of the largest producters of bisphenol A) reportedly offered Missouri University research funding in exchange for Vom Saal, Nagel, and Welshon to withhold publishing their research findings until authorized to do so by the Chemical Manufactures Association. Vom Saal’s team rejected the offer. Subsequent studies performed by independent labs (other than MU or those funded later funded by the chemical industry) confirmed the hormonal activity of bisphenol A A study conducted at the department of pharmacology at University of Pittsburgh discovered mice that had been exposed to bisphenol A before birth had permanently enlarged the prostates (Gupta C, 1999). At the University of Berlin, Gilbert Schonfelder (2003) detected bisphenol A in the human blood of pregnant women and in the placenta and umbilical cord blood of their babies Babies are the most sensitive to the hormonal effects of bisphenol A (Welshon) A review of the 115 published studies on bisphenol A found 90% of government studies found adverse low dose effects of bisphenol A. Interestingly, no studies funded by the chemical industry found any effect (Vom Saal F & Hughes C, 2004). Vom Saal has featured in PBS Frontline and ABC's 20/20 and has recently testified in front of state legislators regarding bisphenal A. His 'Endocrine Disrupters' team (including Welshons and Nagel) at Missouri University is now (2008) studying the link between bisphenol A and obesity. In 1997, Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (part of the US National toxicology Program) assembled an expert panel on bisphenol A Scientists not were permitted to be apart to the CERHR panel if they had published a study on bisphenol A The CERHR panel was ultimately discredited and disbanded when it was discovered that Sciences International, the company contracted to write the CERHR reports, had been funded by more than 50 chemical companies, including Dow Chemical (Cone M, Los Angeles Times, 7 March 2007). In 1996, Congress passed the Food Quality Protection Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. It mandated the EPA to begin protecting consumers from endocrine disrupting chemical such as those found in pesticides and plastics by the year 2000 The US Environmental Protection Agency has been ineffective in protecting the public from bisphenol A. Although scientists make up part of the panel of experts to advise the EPA on chemical screening, representatives of the chemical industry were also invited. The chemical companies were permitted to choose how they would carry out the tests (Eg: using a particular breed of rat and feeding rats a chow that contains soy, a natural estrogen). In 1998 a House committee began investigating the rumored conflicts of interest in the scientific panels advising the EPA Find other articles about hormone disruptors and plastics in our links section. Enviornmental Estrogens Organochlorine chemicals vinyl chlorides, dioxins, PCBs, perchloroethylene half of endocrine disrupters are in this class Non-organochlorine chemicals phthalates, phenols (plasticizers), aromatic hydrocarbons, some surfactants Medicaions hormone replacement, oral contraceptives, tamoxifen, cimetidene Agricultural hormones animal products consumed by humans