Bisphenol A (BPA) is again being linked to serious adverse health reactions. This time, the estrogenic compound, used commonly as a polycarbonate plastic hardener, has been potentially linked to breast cancer for the second time in recent days .
According to a Science Daily report, ongoing exposure to low BPA levels could post a risk to women who overproduce the protein HER2/erbB2 that has been linked to breast cancer. The study, conducted by researchers at University of Alabama at Birmingham was led by Coral Lamartiniere, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and senior scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and postdoctoral fellow Sarah Jenkins, Ph.D.
The team assessed the effect of chronic, oral exposure to BPA in mice genetically modified to overproduce HER2/erbB2, said Science Daily. HER2/erbB2 appears in 15-30 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer. Study results appear online October 12, 2011, in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
“We found the lower doses of BPA to be capable of activating several growth-factor-receptor pathways that previously have been implicated in cancer. This was not observed with the higher BPA doses,” Jenkins said. “This is counterintuitive since BPA in low levels was presumed to be safe…. Although this study did not study breast cancer in humans, the results suggest that chronic low-level BPA exposure could pose a particular threat to women with breast cancer who overproduce this protein,” Jenkins added, Science Daily reported.
We recently wrote that a BPA-breast cancer risk was revealed in a different study reported on by Science Daily. That study, accepted for publication in the journal of The Endocrine Society, Molecular Endocrinology, revealed mammary gland changes in female pups exposed to BPA via their mothers when in utero and being breastfed, revealing an increased response to progesterone, said Science Daily previously. Lifetime progesterone exposure has been linked to increased breast cancer risks.
We’ve also long written about the myriad adverse reactions linked BPA, noting that industry has long maintained the chemical’s safety and that government agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services, have never issued final decisions on BPA’s effects.
As we’ve long mentioned, BPA, with its hormone-mimicking properties, interrupts sexual development and processes, especially in developing fetuses, infants, and children and has been linked to toxic injury and implications in 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 treatment, premature puberty, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and other female fertility and endocrine issues, and erectile dysfunction and male sexual problems in males as young as the developing fetus.
BPA, which is known to leach into products, whether heated or cold, and into the skin, is a component in a growing number of consumer products including food and beverage can linings, CDs and DVDs, dental sealants, nautical resins, thermal receipt paper, and even in canned foods marketed to children.
