Health agencies still see no problems with it

Mar 25, 2010 15:34 GMT  ·  By

Bisphenol A (BPA) is now one of the most scrutinized chemicals in the world. Various research groups have determined that it can have negative effects on the human body when ingested, and more work is currently underway to determine whether that is indeed true or not. But the chemical does resemble the hormone estrogen, and therefore it is a potent disruptor for the endocrine system. In a chilling finding, a new survey has identified the compound at more than 200 research sites in the world's oceans, in more than 20 countries, Wired reports.

The main source of BPA at this point is represented by man-made products. High amounts of the stuff can be found inside shatter-resistant plastic bottles, as well as in epoxy resins. Many researchers hypothesize that our frequent use of such things is what makes most of us carry trace amounts of the compound in our bloodstreams. Contamination from these products most likely occurs daily, researchers say, and the new work would appear to suggest that fish and all other aquatic mammals are subjected to the chemical's effects daily.

In humans, some of the most devastating effects of BPA have been identified as increased risks of heart disease, sterility and altered childhood development. Naturally, one would think that these effects would be enough to force control and management agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restrict its use, or ban it altogether. But officials here seem caught in other, more important things, and insist on arguing that there is nothing wrong with the chemical. Things make more sense when considering that plastics, including BPA, come from fossil fuels, especially oil.

Recent statistics from the United Nations have revealed that each square mile of the world's oceans is polluted by at least 46,000 small pieces of plastic thrash. Some regions, such as the North Pacific Garbage Patch, and the more recent North Atlantic Garbage Patch, include much more pollutants than that. Additionally, the same documents show that more than three million tons of plastics containing the dangerous compound BPA are produced every single year. A large portion of these products eventually end up in the ocean, through various routes, and contaminate wildlife here.