Bisphenol

Bisphenol-A, also known as BPA, is often used to make clear, hard plastics and to line cans containing food.  It can mimic estrogen in the human body, and has been associated with adverse health effects such as reproductive abnormalities and a higher risk of cancer and diabetes.   In many places, the substance has been banned in baby bottles and other containers.  Reports about the risks it poses usually garner a lot of attention.  But regulators have been slow to knock BPA use.  The Food and Drug Administration has called for further study of BPA, but has not banned the substance.

SACRAMENTO - A coalition of chemical companies is suing the Jerry Brown administration to stop an additive commonly found in food containers from being included in the state's list of substances that cause birth defects. The lawsuit by the American Chemistry Council, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court on Friday, seeks to prevent the state's Environmental Protection Agency from placing new restrictions on the use of Bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical agent widely used to protect aluminum food cans from corrosion and to strengthen plastic bottles, toys and containers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administrationannounced Friday that it will not ban the use of bisphenol A, also known as BPA, in food packaging. [For the record: In an earlier version of this post, the Natural Resources Defense Council was misidentified as the National Resources Defense Council. ] In a 12-page letter,David H. Dorsey, FDA acting associate commissioner for policy and planning, wrote that the the Natural Resources Defense Council, which had petitioned the agency to change its regulations on use of the chemical, had not provided sufficient scientific evidence to change the current regulations.

Deepening the mystery surrounding the health effects of bisphenol A, a large new study has linked high levels of childhood and adolescent exposure to the industrial chemical to higher rates of obesity - in white children only. The latest research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., measured bisphenol A, or BPA, levels in the urine of a diverse group of 2,838 Americans ages 6 to 19. Researchers from New York University also reviewed data on the participants' weight, dietary intake, physical activity and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The evidence for bisphenol A's negative health effects keeps piling up. In a study released Monday in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Harvard Medical School reported that the chemical interferes with reproduction in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans . Scientists had already shown that bisphenol A, which is used in many plastics and in the linings of food cans , is associated with...

Believe it or not -- considering all of the negative publicity the chemical bisphenol A has received, resulting in efforts to ban its use in baby bottles and other items for small children -- scientists didn't get around to publishing a peer-reviewed study measuring levels of the chemical in U.S. food until this week. The work was published online Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. A research team led by Arnold Schecter of the University of Texas School of Public Health measured 105 foods purchased from grocery stores in Dallas in March 2010.

Government toxicologists have reiterated safety concerns about a chemical used in baby bottles and food containers, just weeks after the Food and Drug Administration declared the substance safe. A report by the National Toxicology Program said there was "some concern" that bisphenol A could cause developmental problems in the brain and hormonal systems of infants and children. The conclusion repeats initial findings issued in April. The group said bisphenol's risks to humans could not be ruled out but acknowledged that its concerns were based on animal studies.

Federal health officials, criticized for declaring that a controversial chemical was safe, have refused to back down and instead plan more research. The Food and Drug Administration, in a letter to independent scientific reviewers, said it was reevaluating its research on bisphenol A and carrying out additional studies. The letter was the agency's initial response to an independent report that found deep flaws in the FDA's conclusion that the chemical -- used in food packaging and also known as BPA -- was safe.

SACRAMENTO - A coalition of chemical companies is suing the Jerry Brown administration to stop an additive commonly found in food containers from being included in the state's list of substances that cause birth defects. The lawsuit by the American Chemistry Council, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court on Friday, seeks to prevent the state's Environmental Protection Agency from placing new restrictions on the use of Bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical agent widely used to protect aluminum food cans from corrosion and to strengthen plastic bottles, toys and containers.

Our modern-day environment is loaded with man-made chemicals. We breath car exhaust, gasoline fumes and secondhand smoke, and we eat food laced with pesticides and plasticizers and cooked in pans with nonstick coatings. We use cosmetics on our skin, cleaning products in our houses and lawn products in our yards. We decorate our homes and clothe our kids with flame-retardant fabrics. And we drink municipal water that contains traces of pharmaceuticals and other chemicals. What's the health fallout of this?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administrationannounced Friday that it will not ban the use of bisphenol A, also known as BPA, in food packaging. [For the record: In an earlier version of this post, the Natural Resources Defense Council was misidentified as the National Resources Defense Council. ] In a 12-page letter,David H. Dorsey, FDA acting associate commissioner for policy and planning, wrote that the the Natural Resources Defense Council, which had petitioned the agency to change its regulations on use of the chemical, had not provided sufficient scientific evidence to change the current regulations.

Bisphenol A, the chemical used to make some hard-plastic products, has been linked in several studies with health problems in babies and children. A study published Monday again suggests a strong reaction from gestational exposure to the substance. Researchers at Harvard looked at the urine samples of 244 pregnant women in the Cincinnati area. The urine was tested again at birth for the presence of BPA. The children born to these women were also tested for BPA and underwent behavioral evaluations.

Bisphenol-A, also known as BPA, is often used to make clear, hard plastics and to line cans containing food.  It can mimic estrogen in the human body, and has been associated with adverse health effects such as reproductive abnormalities and a higher risk of cancer and diabetes.   In many places, the substance has been banned in baby bottles and other containers.  Reports about the risks it poses usually garner a lot of attention.  But regulators have been slow to knock BPA use.  The Food and Drug Administration has called for further study of BPA, but has not banned the substance.

The evidence for bisphenol A's negative health effects keeps piling up. In a study released Monday in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Harvard Medical School reported that the chemical interferes with reproduction in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans . Scientists had already shown that bisphenol A, which is used in many plastics and in the linings of food cans , is associated with...

Believe it or not -- considering all of the negative publicity the chemical bisphenol A has received, resulting in efforts to ban its use in baby bottles and other items for small children -- scientists didn't get around to publishing a peer-reviewed study measuring levels of the chemical in U.S. food until this week. The work was published online Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. A research team led by Arnold Schecter of the University of Texas School of Public Health measured 105 foods purchased from grocery stores in Dallas in March 2010.

Our modern-day environment is loaded with man-made chemicals. We breath car exhaust, gasoline fumes and secondhand smoke, and we eat food laced with pesticides and plasticizers and cooked in pans with nonstick coatings. We use cosmetics on our skin, cleaning products in our houses and lawn products in our yards. We decorate our homes and clothe our kids with flame-retardant fabrics. And we drink municipal water that contains traces of pharmaceuticals and other chemicals. What's the health fallout of this?

Bisphenol A is a chemical found in polycarbonate plastic used to make numerous consumer products. In recent years, studies have suggested that high levels of the chemical stored in the body can lead to adverse health effects. Prenatal exposure is thought to be particularly harmful because the chemical can mimic estrogen. High levels in pregnancy have been linked in some studies to an increased risk of obesity and behavioral problems in children. Research published Friday indicates that bisphenol A levels in pregnant women vary widely.

Four Ohio parents have filed a federal lawsuit against makers of baby bottles, claiming the bottles were made with a harmful chemical that sparked congressional hearings and prompted the world's largest retailer to phase out the products. The complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court alleges the companies knew that bisphenol A was associated with health problems but didn't disclose the risk. It cites scientific studies concluding that BPA, as the chemical is also known, seeps from bottles and sippy-cups into liquid.

KICKER: FIRST-PERSON PARENT I can't hear the word "plastics" without thinking of "The Graduate. " When the film was released in 1967, plastics may have represented the future, but today we're faced with the past ? what to do with all those used wrappers, bottles and baggies. It turns out a lot of that plastic is finding its way into the cafeteria trashcan. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average school-age child generates 67 pounds of lunchtime waste each year, much of which comes from packaging.

Bisphenol A is a chemical found in polycarbonate plastic used to make numerous consumer products. In recent years, studies have suggested that high levels of the chemical stored in the body can lead to adverse health effects. Prenatal exposure is thought to be particularly harmful because the chemical can mimic estrogen. High levels in pregnancy have been linked in some studies to an increased risk of obesity and behavioral problems in children. Research published Friday indicates that bisphenol A levels in pregnant women vary widely.