Soaring BPA Levels Found in People Who Eat Canned Foods

November 23, 2011

Fox News

“This article is annoying. What is a single dude to do when he wants a can of soup? I guess I have to start making my own soup every week or growing my own black beans.  Yeah, that’s not going to happen.  Seriously, can’t they make a can without BPA?  Just another reason to cleanse and detox a couple times a year.” — Chris Davis KTRN

Eating canned food every day may raise the levels of the compound bisphenol A (BPA) in a person’s urine more than previously suspected, a new study suggests.

People who ate a serving of canned soup every day for five days had BPA levels of 20.8 micrograms per liter of urine, whereas people who instead ate fresh soup had levels of 1.1 micrograms per liter, according to the study. BPA is found in many canned foods — it is a byproduct of the chemicals used to prevent corrosion.

When the researchers looked at the rise in BPA levels seen in the average participant who ate canned soup compared with those who ate fresh soup, they found a 1,221 percent jump.

“To see an increase in this magnitude was quite surprising,” said study leader Karin Michels, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The levels of BPA seen in the study participants “are among the most extreme reported in a nonoccupational setting,” the researchers wrote in their study. In the general population, levels have been found to be around 1 to 2 micrograms per liter, Michels said.

The study noted that levels higher than 13 micrograms per liter were found in only the top 5 percent of participants in the National Health and Examination Survey, which is an ongoing study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We are concerned about the influence of [hormone-disrupting] chemicals on health in general, and BPA is one of them,” Michels told MyHealthNewsDaily.

The study is published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Soup for Lunch
The study included 75 people, whose average age was 27. One group of participants ate 12 ounces of fresh soup every day at lunchtime, while the other ate the same amount of canned soup each day. Urine samples were collected from the participants on the fourth and fifth days of the study.

BPA was detected in 77 percent of people who ate the fresh soup, and all of the people who ate the canned soup, according to the study.

Only a few studies had previously looked at BPA levels from eating canned foods, and those relied on asking people how much of the food they usually eat comes from cans, Michels said. The new study was the first in which researchers randomized participants to eat a small serving of canned food or fresh food, and measured the resulting difference in their urine BPA levels, she said.

“We’ve known for a while that drinking beverages that have been stored in certain hard plastics can increase the amount of BPA in your body. This study suggests that canned foods may be an even greater concern, especially given their wide use,” said study researcher Jenny Carwile, a doctoral student at Harvard.

Click here for the full article.

EPA Finally Considers Investigating BPA

August 16th, 2011

Natural News

By: Anthony Gucciardi

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to launch an investigation into the effects of bisphenol A (BPA) after a number of highly-publicized studies have found that the estrogen-mimicking hormone is a threat to human health. According to the EPA’s report on the subject, the environment is contaminated each year with over 1 million pounds of BPA. Canada has already taken the initiative in banning BPA as a toxic chemical back in December of 2010 after it was found in 91% of Canadian citizens. The EPA’s discussion of investigation is a direct response to public outcry for regulatory action, but BPA has already found its way into countless products in the U.S. and elsewhere.

BPA has been found in 18 of the 20 most popular food cans, dental fillings and sealants, most plastic water bottles, and even baby bottles. Some states have banned the presence of BPA from baby bottles due to its destructive nature. These states include Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington. Due to its estrogen-mimicking nature, it leads not only to the onset of female development, but also to a major decrease in male fertility rates. It has also been found to ‘feminize’ men as regular estrogen does when administered to males. By upsetting the hormonal functions of the body, feminine traits are developed in males such as the development of breasts and certain emotional changes.

“A number of concerns have been raised about the potential human health and environmental effects of BPA,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, according to UPI.

“The data collected under the testing the EPA is considering would help the EPA better understand and address the potential environmental impacts of BPA,” Owens finished.

Even if the EPA goes after BPA and bans it as a toxic substance, the amount of human exposure is so great that there will be repercussions for decades to come. With so many household items containing BPA, a hormonal armageddon is already sweeping through the nation. Just as with artificial sweeteners, GMOs, and other toxic ingredients, government organizations will sit idly by until the absolute last second before intervening. BPA has also now become an environmental issue just like the genetic modification of crops worldwide. With 1 million pounds released in the environment, BPA is poisoning nature in a very eery way. Peaceful action and legislation is necessary to put an end to the extreme poisoning of the planet that is now happening on a daily basis. The EPA’s possible investigation is indeed a step in the right direction as it will raise awareness about BPA’s harmful effects on both humans and the environment.

Click here for the full report from Natural News

BPA Plastics Chemical Found to Feminize Males

July 6th, 2011

Natural News

By: S.L. Baker

Don’t worry, be happy. Just ignore the fact that countless researchers have warned time and time again that the chemical bisphenol A (BPA for short) is a major hormone disruptor and is a huge threat to human health. After all, we must all be safe because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would have banned the stuff long before now if there was really any problem, right?

If you agree with the above, you might also think the deadly radiation still spewing from nuclear reactor meltdowns in Japan is nothing to worry about, either. But the truth is always better than sticking your head in the sand, and this is exactly what the FDA seems to be doing when it comes to BPA.

Here’s the latest breaking news on what has become an environmental nightmare for both humans and possibly wildlife while the FDA does nothing but express “some concern” that BPA might not be perfectly safe.

University of Missouri researchers have evidence that BPA causes male deer mice to lose their masculinity and behave more like females. In fact, female mice sense something isn’t quite “right” about BPA exposed males and don’t want to mate with them.

The scientists conclude that exposure to BPA during human development could also be wreaking havoc on hormones and distorting and disrupting behavioral and cognitive traits that are unique to each sex and important in reproduction.

“The BPA-exposed deer mice in our study look normal; there is nothing obviously wrong with them. Yet, they are clearly different,” said Cheryl Rosenfeld, associate professor in biomedical sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and investigator in the Bond Life Sciences Center, in a statement to the media. “Females do not want to mate with BPA-exposed male deer mice, and BPA-exposed males perform worse on spatial navigation tasks that assess their ability to find female partners in the wild.”

“This study sets the stage for BPA researchers to examine how BPA might differentially impact the behavioral and cognitive patterns of boys versus girls,” Rosenfeld added. “Investigators looking for obvious BPA-induced differences, such as chromosome deletions or DNA mutations, could be missing subtle behavioral differences that eventually lead to long-term adverse outcomes, including demasculinization of male behaviors with a decreased reproductive fitness.”

For the new study, the researchers fed female deer mice a BPA-supplemented diet for two weeks prior to breeding and throughout lactation. The mothers were given a dosage equivalent to what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers a non-toxic dose for pregnant women to ingest.

When the deer mice offspring were weaned at 25 days of age, they were fed on a non-supplemented BPA diet. Then, after the rodents matured into adults, their behavior was tested to study each mouse’s ability to navigate a maze to safety.

Male deer mice normally have an enhanced spatial navigational ability. It’s important because it allows them to find female mates that are dispersed throughout the environment. Female deer mice do not need to search for mates so their navigational abilities have not been enhanced by evolution. But when the University of Missouri researchers tested the navigational skills of male mice that had been exposed to BPA early in their development, something was terribly wrong.

Each male mouse had two five minute opportunities per day, for seven days, to try to find their way in to a home cage through one of several holes placed around the edge of an open maze.

What’s more, the maze was marked with a set of visible navigational cues to help the animals. Yet many of them could not find the exit. On the other hand, all the male mice who had not been exposed to BPA found the correct exit quickly – some on the first day.

Adding to the strong evidence that the BPA dramatically changed the ability of the male mice to navigate normally, the scientists found that the non-BPA exposed mice quickly learned the most direct approach to finding the correct hole, while the exposed males appeared to sort of randomly and inefficiently wander around looking.

The female deer mice also were turned off by potential mates who had been exposed to BPA. In a mate choice experiment, the scientists measured the females’ level of interest in a stranger male by observing specific behaviors, such as nose-to-nose sniffing and the amount of time the female spent checking out her potential partner. According to Dr. Rosenfeld, both non-exposed and BPA-exposed females strongly preferred control males over BPA-exposed males.

“These findings presumably have broad implications to other species, including humans, where there are also innate differences between males and females in cognitive and behavioral patterns,” Rosenfeld said in the media statement. “In the wide scheme of things, these behavioral deficits could, in the long term, undermine the ability of a species such as the deer mouse to reproduce in the wild. Whether there are comparable health threats to humans remains unclear, but there clearly must be a concern.”

This research, which is set for publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the latest in a mounting and damning array of studies showing the dangers of BPA. For example, as NaturalNews has covered extensively, BPA has been found to cause precancerous conditions, kidney and developmental problems in animals.

And research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed that humans could be walking time bombs of health problems related to the ingestion of BPA, which is found in virtually all packaged foods. The JAMA study reported for the first time that the chemical might well be linked to the epidemic of heart disease and diabetes in this country.

Click here for the full report from Natural News

Are BPA Alternatives Potentially Just As Dangerous As Bisphenol-A?

May 25th, 2011

NaturalNews.com

By: Neev M. Arnell

The Atlantic recently posed the obvious but, as yet, unasked question: What is in the new BPA-free plastics that are now flooding the market, and how do we know they are safe?

Bisphenol A, more commonly called BPA, is the toxic chemical that largely comprised polycarbonate plastics. BPA does eventually break down, but because products containing it were–and still are–so ubiquitous, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention managed to find the chemical in more than 90 percent of Americans. But BPA is fast going out of fashion now that we have discovered even low level exposures could cause disrupted genetic signaling and hormone activity that can lead to diabetes; obesity; impaired reproductive, developmental, neurological, immune, and cardiovascular system function; and certain cancers.

As more evidence of BPA’s toxic effects mounts, alternatives become in ever-increasing demand. Consumers now see many products labeled “BPA-free” and may think that they are getting something safe, but is anyone monitoring and testing these alternatives?

The short answer is no. While the National Institutes of Health is supporting $30 million of research into the health effects of BPA, there is no comparable research for the BPA-free alternatives. The EPA’s Design for Environment is examining manufacturer-provided literature of alternative materials but is not currently conducting or commissioning any safety testing of its own either.

Regulating the chemicals by relying primarily on information supplied by a material’s manufacturer, leaves us with little safety information. For example, one BPA-free alternative, Tritan copolyester, is made by the Eastman Chemical Company, which supplies Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for 23 different compounds sold under the Tritan copolyester name. The MSDS sheets, however, list no toxicity data and notes that no studies have been done on the compounds’ effects on the environment. According to Eastman, sales of its product quadrupled between 2009 and 2010.

What this means is that, while we are using BPA-free plastics at an increasingly rapid rate, we know remarkably little about them. These materials could well be BPA all over again or worse.

Glass, ceramics, and stainless steel are alternatives for some products that were formerly made with BPA-containing plastics, but plastic has advantages or is necessary for some products. For those products, it is clear that we need a better system for ensuring safety.

Click here for the full report from Natural News

Toxin From Receipts May Lurk in Cash

December 13th, 2010

AOL News

By: Deborah Hastings

Here’s a new worry to add to your holiday shopping list: A toxic chemical may be lurking in your wallet.

A study released today by the Washington Toxics Coalition found large amounts of Bisphenol A, a chemical that disrupts hormones and has been linked to cancer, on thermal paper receipts and dollar bills tested in 10 states and the District of Columbia.

“Our findings demonstrate that BPA cannot be avoided, even by the most conscious consumer,” said Erika Schreder, lead author of “On the Money: BPA in Dollar Bills and Receipts.”

“This unregulated use of large amounts of BPA is having unintended consequences, including exposure to people when we touch receipts,” she said in a statement posted on the group’s website.

The study also supports research reported exclusively earlier this year by AOL News.

Researchers discovered high concentrations of the chemical in more than half of 22 thermal paper receipts collected from large retail stores. Lower amounts were found on 21 of 22 dollar bills tested, the study says.

Manufacturers of the ubiquitous chemical — found products such as plastic bottles and trash-can liners — have long insisted the substance is safe. But it has come under increasingly strict regulations in other countries, most notably in Canada, which became the first country to deem BPA a toxic chemical.

Late last month, the European Union voted to ban the so-called “gender-bending” chemical from baby bottles.

In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expressed “some concern” about potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland in fetuses, infants and young children, according to its website.

Today’s study release noted that BPA on thermal paper receipts is in powder form and easily transferred to human skin and inanimate objects. The report asks Congress to pass stricter laws regulating chemical production and testing.

Click here for the full report from AOL News

BPA Can Reduce Quality of Semen

November 2nd, 2010

MSNBC.com

By: Natasha Allen

Exposure to a chemical found in food packaging and other plastics, BPA, can reduce the quality of men’s semen, according to the findings of a five-year study and one of the few involving humans rather than animal models.

“This study counters the argument that only highly exposed populations are affected,” said study author Dr. De-Kun Li, a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.

“You can be exposed from the workplace. You can be exposed from consumer products. It doesn’t really matter. Ultimately it will reflect in your urine,” he said.

The researchers suggest findings should apply to Americans since even low levels of BPA exposurecomparable to men in the general U.S. population were found to have an adverse effect on sperm quality and quantity.

Urine BPA
The study, based on measurements from 218 Chinese workers, found a link between high concentrations of BPA, or Bisphenol A, in men’s urine and lower sperm counts, as well as poor-functioning sperm cells.

The study began with 514 workers recruited from epoxy resin factories in China in 2004. Only 218 of the participants ended up submitting both urine and semen specimens for the final assessment. Researchers measured semen quality by examining factors like concentration, vitality, motility (movement), total sperm count and morphology (size and shape).

Men exposed to BPA at work and who showed detectable urine BPA had more than three times the risk of lower sperm concentration and vitality than men with no detectable urine BPA. The former group also had more than four times the risk of lower sperm count and more than twice the risk of lower sperm motility.

Li and his team discovered a similar association between men with low BPA exposure from environmental sources and raised urine BPA levels and decreased semen quality.

No correlation was shown between urine BPA and semen volume or shape.

Animal studies already have shown that BPA is a hormone disruptor that can affect male reproductive organs, including the epididymis (coiled structure in the scrotum) and testes. However, there have been few findings regarding the chemical’s influence on humans, including a recent study on male sexual dysfunction by Li and his researchers.

“Our study shows that BPA could lead to pathological changes to human organs — semen quality, in this case,” Li told LiveScience. “In addition, this new finding of the detrimental effect of BPA exposure on semen quality raises the bar of BPA toxicity.”

How this affects Americans
Bisphenol A can be found in food packaging (the primary source of human exposure), DVDs, paper coatings, and automotive equipment, among other products. Releases of the chemical to the environment exceed 1 million pounds per year, according to a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Gail Prins, a reproductive physiologist at University of Illinois College of Medicine, who was not involved in the study, said the finding is important though unsurprising and that it emphasizes the importance of animal model research in predicting outcomes in human populations.

“Evidence has indicated that for the past few decades, sperm counts have been declining in some human populations — and that this might be related to exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as BPA is very reasonable,” Prins said. “I strongly believe that the U.S. should take measures to reduce the use of this chemical, since levels build over time.”

Current regulations should reflect more recent findings, said John Meeker, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan, who was not involved in Li’s study.

“We know that the majority of Americans have measurable levels of BPA in their bodies,” Meeker said. “Since new research results in both humans and animals are currently being published nearly every day, policies should be re-evaluated using the most up-to-date information available.”

The findings suggest semen quality and male sexual dysfunction could be used as early indicators of for harmful BPA effects than other diseases, such as cancer, the researchers say.

Li and colleagues plan to examine the effects of BPA exposure during pregnancy. Though Li warned that further research is needed, he advised individuals to make informed decisions regarding products that may contain BPA.

“As average consumers, we do not need to wait for regulatory agencies’ decision. We can take precautionary steps to avoid the exposure to BPA in our daily life,” he said. “Besides, there is no downside to avoiding BPA.”

The study was published in the Oct. 28 issue of the journal of Fertility and Sterility. The work was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Click here for the full report from MSNBC

High BPA Levels May Hurt Sperm Quality

October 28th, 2010

MSNBC

By: Natasha Allen

Exposure to a chemical found in food packaging and other plastics, BPA, can reduce the quality of men’s semen, according to the findings of a five-year study and one of the few involving humans rather than animal models.

“This study counters the argument that only highly exposed populations are affected,” said study author Dr. De-Kun Li, a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.

“You can be exposed from the workplace. You can be exposed from consumer products. It doesn’t really matter. Ultimately it will reflect in your urine,” he said.

The researchers suggest findings should apply to Americans since even low levels of BPA exposurecomparable to men in the general U.S. population were found to have an adverse effect on sperm quality and quantity.

Urine BPA
The study, based on measurements from 218 Chinese workers, found a link between high concentrations of BPA, or Bisphenol A, in men’s urine and lower sperm counts, as well as poor-functioning sperm cells.

The study began with 514 workers recruited from epoxy resin factories in China in 2004. Only 218 of the participants ended up submitting both urine and semen specimens for the final assessment. Researchers measured semen quality by examining factors like concentration, vitality, motility (movement), total sperm count and morphology (size and shape).

Men exposed to BPA at work and who showed detectable urine BPA had more than three times the risk of lower sperm concentration and vitality than men with no detectable urine BPA. The former group also had more than four times the risk of lower sperm count and more than twice the risk of lower sperm motility.

Li and his team discovered a similar association between men with low BPA exposure from environmental sources and raised urine BPA levels and decreased semen quality.

No correlation was shown between urine BPA and semen volume or shape.

Animal studies already have shown that BPA is a hormone disruptor that can affect male reproductive organs, including the epididymis (coiled structure in the scrotum) and testes. However, there have been few findings regarding the chemical’s influence on humans, including a recent study on male sexual dysfunction by Li and his researchers.

“Our study shows that BPA could lead to pathological changes to human organs — semen quality, in this case,” Li told LiveScience. “In addition, this new finding of the detrimental effect of BPA exposure on semen quality raises the bar of BPA toxicity.”

How this affects Americans
Bisphenol A can be found in food packaging (the primary source of human exposure), DVDs, paper coatings, and automotive equipment, among other products. Releases of the chemical to the environment exceed 1 million pounds per year, according to a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Gail Prins, a reproductive physiologist at University of Illinois College of Medicine, who was not involved in the study, said the finding is important though unsurprising and that it emphasizes the importance of animal model research in predicting outcomes in human populations.

“Evidence has indicated that for the past few decades, sperm counts have been declining in some human populations — and that this might be related to exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as BPA is very reasonable,” Prins said. “I strongly believe that the U.S. should take measures to reduce the use of this chemical, since levels build over time.”

Current regulations should reflect more recent findings, said John Meeker, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan, who was not involved in Li’s study.

“We know that the majority of Americans have measurable levels of BPA in their bodies,” Meeker said. “Since new research results in both humans and animals are currently being published nearly every day, policies should be re-evaluated using the most up-to-date information available.”

The findings suggest semen quality and male sexual dysfunction could be used as early indicators of for harmful BPA effects than other diseases, such as cancer, the researchers say.

Li and colleagues plan to examine the effects of BPA exposure during pregnancy. Though Li warned that further research is needed, he advised individuals to make informed decisions regarding products that may contain BPA.

“As average consumers, we do not need to wait for regulatory agencies’ decision. We can take precautionary steps to avoid the exposure to BPA in our daily life,” he said. “Besides, there is no downside to avoiding BPA.”

The study was published in the Oct. 28 issue of the journal of Fertility and Sterility. The work was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Click here for the full report from MSNBC

The Kevin Trudeau Show: 10-6-10

Today, Kevin finally reveals the REAL reason why he disappears to Europe every year! You don’t have to look or feel as old as you are. Kevin knows where to find the Fountain of Youth.

Self Help:
The Royal Treatment
Reverse Aging
Become a Member!
Water Purification
Truth About 2012
Law of Attraction

Health:
FTC Goes After POM’s Health Claims
FDA’s Big Drug Problem
Americans Drowning In Prescription Drugs
Meet Big Pharma’s Newest Scam
Ben & Jerry’s to Finally Remove ‘All Natural’ From Labels
China’s Study Of Vegetarianism May Not Be So Accurate
Judges Ask FDA For Clarification Over What Is ‘Natural’
Germany Bans Cultivation of GM Corn
FDA Calls Lung Drug Misleading
Osteoporosis Drug Likely To Cause Cancer
Plastics Are Making You Fat
FDA May Approve Genetically Modified Salmon
Would You Like Statins With That?
Swine Flu Vaccine Safety Probed
Don’t Fall For The Latest Water Fad

Government:
CIA’s Secret Payments To Karzai Administration

NWO:
DC Uses GPS to Monitor Young Criminals
Massive Solar Storms To Hit Earth in 2012
The Wikileaks Saga Continues…

Wealth:
No End in Sight For Failing Banks

Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Support Kevin!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become Kevin’s Friend on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club

Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!


Click Below to watch The Kevin Trudeau Show LIVE!

BPA Plastics Chemical Linked To Asthma

July 1, 2010

Natural News

By David Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) The controversial chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), already linked to a wide array of health problems, may also increase the risk of asthma in children, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

BPA is an industrial chemical widely used in the manufacture of hard, clear plastics like those used in water and baby bottles, as well as in resins used to line cans of food, beverages and infant formula. Exposure has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, heart disease, birth defects, and hormonal and reproductive problems. Its use in products for young children has been banned in a number of countries and in three U.S. states.

After years of insisting that the chemical was safe, the FDA recently changed its position and called for more research.

Click here for the full report.

FDA Finally Admits Concern Over BPA In Plastics

June 17, 2010

Natural News

By E. Huff

(NaturalNews) Following its 2008 declaration that the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) is a safe additive in food and beverage plastics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received criticism from consumer advocacy groups and others for neglecting scientific evidence that indicated the contrary. The agency reluctantly agreed to review its position and recently reversed its position, declaring that it now has concerns about the safety of BPA.

Several scientific studies have verified that BPA is a highly toxic endocrine disruptor that can impede proper reproductive function and lead to cardiovascular disease, liver problems, and diabetes. It is especially harmful during the early developmental stages because it hinders the proper development of organ tissues and glands and inhibits proper sexual maturity.

A 2009 Harvard University study found that people who drank from polycarbonate bottles containing BPA for just one week experienced a two-thirds increase of BPA in their urine. Published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the study verified that the BPA used in containers leaches very easily into food and beverages, especially when heated.

Click here for the full report.

Next Page »