FDA Finds BPA In Most Popular Canned Foods

A new study supports concerns over the polycarbonate plastics chemical <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/practice_areas/toxic_substances">bisphenol A (BPA) and its infiltration in our canned food and beverage products. BPA is often used as a tin can liner and leaches out of cans and into foods, according to Consumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

The San Francisco Gate (SF Gate) discussed the ongoing pressures placed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the controversial, estrogenic chemical. In addition to growing concern over the negative impact of BPA on health and the environment, and despite tremendous public support for increased regulation concerning toxic chemicals, Congress has continued to act on the side of industry. Of note, industry has long relied on the results of two studies that found BPA safe at current usage levels; however, those studies were industry conducted.

The ever-present polycarbonate plastic hardener has been implicated in a growing range of consumer products from baby bottles and sippy cups to eyeglass, CD and DVD cases, and water bottles. We recently wrote that the toxic chemical was found in ordinary thermal paper receipts—further intensifying its ubiquity—and presents a danger to aquatic health due to its presence in nautical paints. It has long been known about the presence of BPA in can liners, a point of contention for consumer advocates and experts reporting on the risks of the chemical’s infiltration into our food chain.

Acting as an anti-androgen—substances that block hormone activity—BPA affects sexual development and processes, especially in developing fetuses, infants, and children. BPA has been inked to toxic injury and life threatening illnesses in many hundreds of studies which have made these links to cardiovascular disease, intestinal problems, brain cell connection interference, increased risks of reproductive and immune system diseases and disorders, problems with liver function testing, interruptions in chemotherapy, premature puberty, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), female fertility issues, erectile dysfunction, and male sexual problems. Recently, BPA, was linked, again, to sperm health issues this time, in a human study.

This new study looked at how the chemical is transported in can liners, noting that BPA effects are well known, but not how we are exposed, said the SF Gate. Scientists at the FDA tested what they considered to be the “most popularly consumed canned foods” and found the chemical in nearly every product tested, such as, said the SF Gate, “green beans, chile, pasta, and fruit.”

Variances were seen in how much BPA was present in the foods, for instance, a can of peas tested with 113 times the concentration of BPA versus another can, while pasta, pork and beans, chile, and soups hovered at levels between 10 and 80 parts per billion (ppb), with different resins and chemical properties of the canned foods likely responsible for the differences, noted the SF Gate.

Most recently, we wrote that some new research that “increased muscle tone, tremors, and abnormal movements” appeared in the baby of a woman who tested with very high BPA urine levels, wrote EMaxHealth. While pregnant, the woman reportedly ate canned foods and drinks and used a microwave oven to heat foods in plastic containers—all avenues known to be BPA routes to the body. While her baby exhibited normal at-birth neurobehavioral development, at the one-month exam, the baby exhibited a number of “abnormalities” not present at the one-year to five-year exams.