EPA (re)Discovers BPA - YAY!

The EPA has finally recognized bisphenol-A (BPA) as a “chemical of concern” – whew, and we thought that they didn’t even care. Go get ‘em, EPA! Let’s hope that it’s not too late for us – but the article in Natural Foods Merchandiser quotes a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which declares that 93% of humans studied, ages 6 and up, have BPA in their urine. 93% = you. :(

Frankly, this shouldn’t be all that surprising (93%?! - WT*?), considering that BPA is delivered to you, at no extra charge, by way of sources like plastic drink bottles and even the liners of the majority of canned foods! You pretty much have to be Amish to avoid the stuff…

What’s the fuss? BPA is a “reproductive, developmental and systemic toxicant”, according to the EPA’s own Action Plan Summary. Translated: BPA can cause lab frogs to change sexual orientation (not meaning that they 'go gay' - it's more of a sex-change operation) as they grow through adolescence, among other things, so the thought of what it may do to humans is well, scary. The fact that the EPA is just now getting on the bandwagon with/against BPA, now that we all have it in our bodies, is even scarier.

Why does Rise Above Plastics care? BPA is a poison that is very useful as a "binder & stabilizer" for plastic formulas, and it leeches into our oceans as plastics photodegrade there (see: North Pacific Gyre)...and absorb other Persistent Organic Pollutants, which fish then inadvertently eat, which we then inadvertently eat...and well, as you can see, it's complicated...!

Read the NFM article here…its is packed with helpful links to more info about BPA and all of the organizations involved in this recent revelation.

Other BPA fun-links:

Another report of the new EPA plan, from a plastics industry website.

Wikipedia entry for BPA.

Product description by a company that produces BPA for sale.

Ancient articles about concerns of BPA are easy to find...just internet search "BPA" or "bisphenol-A".

Looking forward to a plastics-free day - have a good'un!

Time Mag: Perils of Plastic

A new article about “Environmental Toxins” from a special edition of Time Magazine is kicking up some dust in the plastics world this week - and it (re)substantiates one of the main reasons to Rise Above Plastics. It details the poisons (mainly BPA and phthalates) used in making food-grade plastics and how our government and industry control – or don’t control – their eventual "release", as consumer products. It’s a quick read, chock full of great info…and stellar quotes, here are a couple:

“If you don't have BPA in your body, you're not living in the modern world.”

“The dose may still make the poison, but we'll never know unless we test the chemical soup we actually experience in the world — unless, that is, we find the environmentally relevant dose. There's been a tendency to ask the old questions in the old way," says Linda Birnbaum [head of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences]. "But if it's dark and you only look for your keys under the lamppost and they're not right there, you'll never find them." “

...don't forget the mind-boggling revelations, like this one, either:

“If you want to market a new drug, you need to convince the FDA — in multiple tests, over the course of years — that it won't cause serious harm. But if you want to market a new chemical for use in a product — even one that will come into contact with children or pregnant women — it's up to the EPA to prove that it's unsafe, using whatever data are provided by the chemical company…”

Read it and you'll find that the current administration in Washington may act to breath life back into the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) – a 34 year-old law set that has sat largely dormant since its inception and lacks needed updates that accommodate chemicals that have come into widespread use since then.

Bon appétit!