December 1st, 2009 by drval in Audio, Expert Interviews
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There has been a lot of media attention surrounding the safety of polycarbonate plastic products containing bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is found in polycarbonate, hard clear plastic products like eye glasses, bicycle helmets, and food containers, and also in epoxy resins that act as protective coatings on everything from food and beverage cans to steel pipes and car engines.
In the next week or so, the FDA is expected to provide a new analysis of the science behind BPA safety. To gain some insight into what the fuss is all about, Dr. Steve Novella and I interviewed Dr. Steven Hentges (Executive Director of the Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group of the American Chemistry Council) on a blogger briefing call.
You may listen to the entire conversation here (and please read on for my summary of the issues):
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September 23rd, 2009 by DrDavidKroll in Better Health Network, News, True Stories
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From today’s article by the always-interesting Sarah Avery at the News & Observer:
After several failed attempts to extract the item, Manley was referred to another doctor, who suggested removing the entire left lung. “I said, no, I wouldn’t be doing that,” Manley says.
That’s when he decided to seek a second opinion at Duke University Medical Center.
We’ve heard of “hot tub lung” and “popcorn lung” but my chest hurts just thinking about “jagged, fast-food implement lung.”
If this case does not make it into the New England Journal of Medicine, I will be disappointed.
Photo credit: Duke Hospitals via the News & Observer
Title quote: courtesy of Dr Momen Wahidi, director of interventional pulmonology at Duke
*This blog post was originally published at Terra Sigillata*
April 17th, 2008 by drval in News
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I first became aware of the potential link between a chemical found in some plastics (bisphenol A) and health effects in humans a little more than a year ago. I was concerned enough by the preliminary data collected by the NIH to blog about it, and it seems that many others are voicing concerns as well.
In fact, Canada has decided that the evidence is sufficient to label the chemical “dangerous” and will be announcing this shortly:
In Canada, the Globe and Mail newspaper said the Canadian health ministry was ready to declare BPA a dangerous substance, making it the first regulatory body in the world to reach such a determination. The newspaper said the ministry could announce the decision as soon as Wednesday.
Environmental activists long have warned about health concerns regarding the chemical. They praised the draft findings of the National Toxicology Program, which cited more potential worries about the chemical than did a panel of experts that advised the program last year.
At this point we don’t have enough information about how the chemical impacts humans to be sure of its level of risk. But what we do know is that:
1. The chemical is ubiquitous (most Americans have trace amounts detectable in their urine).
2. Animal studies appear to have demonstrated a causal relationship between bisphenol A and fertility, behavioral, and immunologic disorders in rats.
3. Human breast cells exposed to bisphenol A in a Petri dish developed a more aggressive form of cancer.
4. There is a plausible biologic mechanism by which the chemical could exert clinical, endocrine-mediated effects.
For these reasons, I think we should certainly view bisphenol A with suspicion. I will continue to follow the research with interest and concern.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
December 6th, 2007 by drval in News
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There is new concern about babies being exposed to a certain plastic chemical found in the lining of formula cans. I have had my eye on this developing story since I first became aware of the potential harms of a commonly used plastic product, bisphenol A (BPA). In fact, I blogged about this almost a year ago - as I was worried about preliminary studies that showed a connection between low level exposure to BPA and fertility, mental and behavioral disorders, and brain structure. My colleague Dr. Mike Glode also has his eye on this story as it pertains to prostate cancer. Revolution Health expert Dr. Joe Scherger was also on the news several months ago, describing his concerns about BPA. Here is a snippet from my earlier blog post:
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Polycarbonate plastic products contain a synthetic estrogen monomer called bisphenol A (BPA). This monomer was first discovered in 1891, and has since been used in hard plastics (such as water bottles, baby bottles, Brita containers, and the linings of canned foods). Globally, BPA is produced in the amount of >6.4 billion pounds/year. The CDC estimates that 95% of urine samples (collected from people living in the United States) contain measurable BPA levels.
In a review article published in NIH’s prestigious Environmental Health Perspectives journal, evidence from 115 in vivo studies of the effects of BPA is analyzed with surprising conclusions.
[In rats,] rate of growth and sexual maturation, hormone levels in blood, reproductive organ function, fertility, immune function, enzyme activity, brain structure, brain chemistry, and behavior are all affected by exposure to low doses of BPA. Many of these effects are due to exposure during early development (gestation and/or lactation), but effects due to postweaning-through adult exposure have also been reported… The literature we reviewed shows that the rate of leaching from commonly used BPA-containing products (the lining of tin cans and polycarbonate food and beverage containers) is high enough to result in adverse effects in laboratory animals… A case control study reporting that ovarian disease in Japanese women is related to blood levels of BPA provides a first confirmation of this prediction in adult humans. Almost one-half of the low dose BPA studies have been published in just the last 2 years.
Is this concerning? Yes. What can we do? BPA is so ubiquitous that it would be hard to completely avoid exposure. Luckily the NIH is sponsoring many new studies to review the safety of BPA, and if it is found to be as harmful to humans in low doses as it seems to be in other mammals, they will take steps to enact laws to minimize exposure. Unfortunately it may take as many as 10 years to collect conclusive evidence as to the safety or harm of BPA exposure.
Until then, reducing exposure to this chemical may be a good idea - you can do this by using BPA free baby bottles, powdered formula instead of canned formula, avoiding drinking out of hard, clear plastic containers, and reducing the use of canned goods - especially for babies. Let’s keep our eye on this evolving story.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
February 19th, 2007 by drval in News
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As I was reading the news headlines I came across a provocative title: “Obesity Linked to Chemicals in Womb.” Since this sounded very weakly plausible to me, I decided to roll up my sleeves and follow the evidence trail. What I found surprised me greatly. (Although I wasn’t convinced by the obesity - chemical link, I uncovered something more sinister.)
Polycarbonate plastic products contain a synthetic estrogen monomer called bisphenol A (BPA). This monomer was first discovered in 1891, and has since been used in hard plastics (such as water bottles, baby bottles, Brita containers, and the linings of canned foods). Globally, BPA is produced in the amount of >6.4 billion pounds/year. The CDC estimates that 95% of urine samples (collected from people living in the United States) contain measurable BPA levels.
In a review article published in NIH’s prestigious Environmental Health Perspectives journal, evidence from 115 in vivo studies of the effects of BPA is analyzed with surprising conclusions.
[In rats,] rate of growth and sexual maturation, hormone levels in blood, reproductive organ function, fertility, immune function, enzyme activity, brain structure, brain chemistry, and behavior are all affected by exposure to low doses of BPA. Many of these effects are due to exposure during early development (gestation and/or lactation), but effects due to postweaning-through adult exposure have also been reported… The literature we reviewed shows that the rate of leaching from commonly used BPA-containing products (the lining of tin cans and polycarbonate food and beverage containers) is high enough to result in adverse effects in laboratory animals… A case control study reporting that ovarian disease in Japanese women is related to blood levels of BPA provides a first confirmation of this prediction in adult humans. Almost one-half of the low dose BPA studies have been published in just the last 2 years.
Is this concerning? Yes. What can we do? Not much. BPA is so ubiquitous that it would be hard to completely avoid exposure. Luckily the NIH is sponsoring many new studies to review the safety of BPA, and if it is found to be as harmful to humans in low doses as it seems to be in other mammals, they will take steps to enact laws to minimize exposure. Until then, I might think twice about drinking and eating out of polycarbonate based receptacles. What do you think?
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
