Posted on 12/06/2009 7:04:43 AM PST by opentalk
The chemical Bisphenol A, which has been used for years in clear plastic bottles and food-can liners, has been restricted in Canada and some U.S. states and municipalities because of potential health effects. The Food and Drug Administration will soon decide what it considers a safe level of exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), which some studies have linked to reproductive abnormalities and a heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, and heart disease.
Now Consumer Reports' latest tests of canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna, and green beans, have found that almost all of the 19 name-brand foods we tested contain some BPA. The canned organic foods we tested did not always have lower BPA levels than nonorganic brands of similar foods analyzed. We even found the chemical in some products in cans that were labeled "BPA-free."
The debate revolves around just what is a safe level of the chemical to ingest and whether it should be in contact with food. Federal guidelines currently put the daily upper limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. But that level is based on experiments done in the 1980s rather than hundreds of more recent animal and laboratory studies indicating serious health risks could result from much lower doses of BPA.
According to Consumer Reports’ testing, the levels of BPA can vary greatly from one can to another, which makes sense when you consider that the BPA leeches from the lining, and a variety of factors, such as heat, can influence the rate of leeching.
In general, canned green beans and canned soups had some of the highest BPA levels of the foods tested. The worst offenders during their tests included:
Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans had BPA levels ranging from 35.9 ppb to as much as 191 ppb
Progresso Vegetable Soup had BPA levels ranging from 67 to 134 ppb
Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup had BPA levels ranging from 54.5 to 102 ppb
The debate revolves around just what is a safe level of the chemical to ingest and whether it should be in contact with food. Federal guidelines currently put the daily upper limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight.
Putting that in real numbers that would be 3.5 milligrams for someone weighing about 150 pounds.
Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans had BPA levels ranging from 35.9 ppb to as much as 191 ppb
Eating a pound of those beans (yikes! a pound of beans?) at the maximum measured level would give you 0.09 milligrams. To hit the federal guidelines you would have to eat 404 pounds of the maximumly contaminated beans a day.
Now you can argue about whether the guidelines are good or not, but I think the quick switches from micrograms/kilogram of body weight to parts per billion without doing some math in the article is an attempt to scare people who won't do the math themselves.
Everything is bad for you. At this rate, I’m moving towards photosynthesis for sustenence.
Thanks!
Wow - you have already debunked this NEW (to me) scare!!!!
Don’t worry - though - it won’t stop the FDA from outlawing all our (cheap) canned food and plastic bottled beverages and food....
I would be concerned about the build up over time and if this toxin stays in your body. Think of all the plastic on a daily basis. Is it also in plastic water bottles, pop bottles?
May make sense to try and reduce exposure.
As far as I know there is no conclusive evidence that BpA is harmful. Second, if it were conclusive it would be banned outright not subject to control. Third, I have yet to see where the body cannot eliminate this substance.
I admit to not spending a lot of time researching this but in the articles I have read it seems, once again, we have consensus but actual hard data approaching proof.
Two years ago, they came after us with their fear-mongering over miniscule levels of lead in toys, then produced the monstosity called HR 4040 (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act), or what I like to call it: The legal profession job securities act.
Then last year, they started coming after us with their fear-mongering over PhThalates in PVC.
Now this year, it’s BPA.
These people never stop.
That would be my thinking on this.
I may not be but, in combination with other common chemicals might be harmful.
There's something that's making us, as a nation, generally obese/ill and no one has been able to pinpoint exact causes.
(please don't site a longer life span as a rebuttal. We again, as a nation, are basically dependent on the pharmaceutical industry and healthier lifestyle choices for that stat)
JOYA HEALTH PING
Sounds like worth checking stocks out on.
“To hit the federal guidelines you would have to eat 404 pounds of the maximumly contaminated beans a day.”
If I can manage to do it for one day only, will I be in trouble?
... recommends avoiding plastics with certain recycling codes: #7 may include bisphenol A, and #3 may contain phthalates. Plastics with recycling codes 1, 2 and 5 are safer, he says."
This was from a usatoday article. They think the biggest risk is to children and babies.
I won’t enter the longer life span as rebuttal, as you asked, but I will note that it is (unfortunately for them) african-american and hispanic-american folks who drag our life expectancy stats even further down. If you did the life expectancy of just white people, it would be much higher, so I read.
So that makes me think that at least whites as a group in this country are living healthier than blacks/hispanics.
We all have access to the same medical care and pharmaceuticals.
Agreed. However, hysteria sells magazines, TV programs etc. Increased sales and viewers means advertising revenue increases. Q.E.D.
“They think the biggest risk is to children and babies.”
Which eventually means everyone.
As you might guess from my responses, I have a bias toward certain industries that, I feel. don't always have the health/well-being of the consumer as the first consideration.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.