Bisphenol A (BPA) is practically everywhere: in CDs, many food and soda containers, bottled water containers, baby bottles, as well as many plastics. It has become ubiquitous that most people have already taken its existence for granted.

Harvard School of Public Health researchers have recently confirmed that ‘college kids who drank from polycarbonate bottles showed a two-thirds increase of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in their urine.’ The potentially harmful chemical has already been banned in Canada. However, ‘no study has convincingly shown adverse effects from BPA on human health.’ But it still remains that the recommended daily allowance for BPA is zero.

Where lies the health threat? ‘BPA is an endocrine-disruptor that can initiate early onset of sexual maturation. It also might be associated with heart disease and diabetes. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) ranks this chemical as posing “some concern” for adverse effects on brain development for fetuses, infants and children; “minimal concern” for early puberty; and “negligible concern” for the reproductive health of adults.’

The Harvard study is the first to show that drinking from polycarbonate bottles increased the level of urinary BPA. Another study, coming from the University of Rochester, reveals that ‘BPA lingered in the body for longer than the expected half-life of just a few hours. This may be indication that BPA is lodging itself in fat tissue.’

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Via Live Science