FDA urges families to limit BPA exposure

Adding more to the already touted harmful effects of a chemical, bisphenol A, or BPA, FDA reviewers have now warned that this estrogen-like chemical, usually present in almost all everyday use plastic products, can affect the development of fetuses, infants and children.

Dilemma over BPA’s safety
People around the world are facing a dilemma over deciding whether chemical bisphenol A, which is commonly known as BPA, is safe for them and their kids if used in low levels or not. Some experts say the chemical can pose threat to lives of human beings, while other say it’s not that much harmful.

Echoing findings of the previous studies that suggested a link between BPA and human health problems, several other animal studies warn that BPA could impair the chances of successful in vitro fertilization, or the ability of embryos to attach to the uterus, and can cause arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, especially in women.

BPA is of "some concern"
The US health watchdog, which passed of the chemical as harmless two years ago, is now expressing some concerns about the BPA, encouraging families to limit their children's exposure to the chemical.

FDA said it has some concerns about the “potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate glands of fetuses, infants and children."

The agency presented its recommendations as an interim update on an ongoing FDA re-evaluation of the potential health risk of BPA.

“At this interim stage, FDA shares the perspective of the National Toxicology Program that recent studies provide reason for some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children,” the FDA update states. “FDA also recognizes substantial uncertainties with respect to the overall interpretation of these studies and their potential implications for human health effects of BPA exposure.”

FDA, along with other US government agencies, is now planning to investigate the effects of BPA on humans and animals.

What is BPA?
Bisphenol A, which is commonly known as BPA, is a synthetic chemical that is the main component in polycarbonate, which ultimately forms the unbreakable, plastic used in the food cans, water bottles, drink containers, compact discs, electronics and also baby bottles.

Environmental and consumer safety groups have long been warning that the BPA used in many plastic consumer products ranging from baby bottles to plastic lining of canned foods to other plastic drinks and food containers, may pose health risks to animals and infants, affecting their development and reproductive systems. But the FDA and European regulators, as well as the plastics industry, are repeatedly denying those recommendations, asserting the chemical is not dangerous.

BPA, an ingredient of polycarbonate plastic, is one of the most widely used synthetic chemicals in industry today. Its current uses are as a primary monomer in polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. It can enter to the human body through hard plastic beverage containers such as baby bottles, as well as from liners in cans containing food and infant formula.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention estimates that nearly 93 percent of American's have BPA in their urine.