Bisphenol A most harmful to infants - oral route - liver enzyme

[Guest guest]

Bisphenol A most harmful to infants, study says

MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT

>From Friday's Globe and Mail

January 11, 2008 at 3:58 AM EST

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080111.wbisphenol11/BNStory\

/specialScienceandHealth/home

A new U.S. study on the plastic compound bisphenol A indicates that the

chemical may be far more dangerous for young children than for adults.

The finding has been submitted to Health Canada for its current safety

review of BPA, and bolsters the case for limiting bisphenol A exposure

in infants, who lack the capacity that adults have to detoxify it.

Bisphenol A is used in polycarbonate baby bottles and the epoxy linings

of cans, including those for almost all types of infant formula. Because

BPA can mimic estrogen, many researchers suspect it is a factor in

health trends linked to sex hormone imbalances, such as prostate and

breast cancer.

In the new study, researchers found that neonatal mice exposed to trace

amounts of bisphenol A, either orally or through injection, ended up

with similar amounts of the chemical in their blood because they do not

have high amounts of the liver enzyme that breaks it down into an

inactive form.

Young rodents don't fully develop the capacity to make the enzyme until

they are weaned, a trait they share with humans. By contrast, adult

rodents fed BPA have been found to rapidly clear it from their bodies

using the enzymes.

Similar experiments are not done on babies for ethical reasons, but

given the similarity of biological processes among mammals, many

scientists consider the results applicable to humans.

The research study is expected to be issued next week by the peer

reviewed journal Reproductive Toxicology.

The finding is " extremely scary, " said Dr. Frederick vom Saal, a

professor in the biological sciences department of the University of

Missouri, and a member of the team that conducted the study.

Dr. vom Saal is a leading authority on BPA, and he contended that

formula and polycarbonate baby bottles expose children to worrisome

amounts of the synthetic estrogen. " You are significantly dosing your

baby with bisphenol A every day and every time the baby is consuming

food, " he said.

Health Canada said in a statement to The Globe and Mail yesterday that

" it is too early for us to state whether we have a concern or not with

infant formula or baby bottles which contain BPA. "

But two major formula makers - Nestle Canada and Mead

Nutritionals - dismissed the concerns.

" Health Canada, as well as other international authorities such as the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, have approved the use of BPA in food

packaging, " Nestle Canada said in an e-mail statement.

" The preponderance of valid scientific literature right now upholds the

position that BPA and the levels found in the food chain of humans is

absolutely safe, " said Gail Wood, spokeswoman for ville, Ind.,

based Mead . She also discounted the significance for humans of

research on mice.

Based on a preliminary risk assessment in 2006, Health Canada said that

bisphenol A was a chemical for which it had a " predisposition to

conclude toxic. " It is expected to issue a formal evaluation by May.

The study also contradicts a major contention on the safety of bisphenol

A advanced by chemical manufacturers. Many of the nearly 200 studies

finding severe health effects from bisphenol A exposure have been done

by injecting young or pregnant rodents with the chemical.

The American Chemistry Council, an Arlington, Va., trade group for major

BPA manufacturers, has argued that injection study results aren't

applicable to humans because people are thought to have most of their

exposures from oral sources, such as food, subject to rapid metabolizing

by liver enzymes. Delivering BPA by injection bypasses this

detoxification process and may cause health effects that wouldn't occur

by ingesting the chemical, according to the industry's view.

However, the new research indicates that both oral and injection

approaches are equally valid for experiments during fetal and neonatal

development.

Health Canada said it hasn't yet decided whether to accept or reject the

industry's position on the dosing controversy.

The council did not respond to a request for comment on the new research.

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[Guest guest]

We have seen article after article about the dangers of bisphenol A. One would

think these bottles,teethers,toys...etc. would have been pulled off the shelves

by now. Instead, the government and greedy corporations prefer NOT to err on

the side of caution when it comes to infants. How unethical, immoral and so very

criminal (I think it's called " reckless disregard " )! Angry with an infant

that uses glass bottles and an organic teether that took me one month to find!

-------------- Original message from Binstock :

--------------

Bisphenol A most harmful to infants, study says

MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT

>From Friday's Globe and Mail

January 11, 2008 at 3:58 AM EST

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080111.wbisphenol11/BNStory\

/specialScienceandHealth/home

A new U.S. study on the plastic compound bisphenol A indicates that the

chemical may be far more dangerous for young children than for adults.

of

Missouri, and a member of the team that conducted the study.

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[Guest guest]

In the US, the guiding rationale for regulatory agencies is called Risk

Management, which is very different from using the Precautionary Principle when

evaluating new molecules. At the heart of the Risk Management principle is that

it's OK to approve a product so long as not too many people are injured. And the

cost of their injuries has to be compared with the benefits to " the economy " .

The EU recently moved to have the Precautionary Principle invoked as regulatory

basis as much as possible.

Re: Bisphenol A most harmful to infants - oral route - liver enzyme

Posted by: " FM " fmcamm@... mrefus

Date: Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:14 pm ((PST))

We have seen article after article about the dangers of bisphenol A. One would

think these bottles,teethers,toys...etc. would have been pulled off the shelves

by now. Instead, the government and greedy corporations prefer NOT to err on

the side of caution when it comes to infants. How unethical, immoral and so very

criminal (I think it's called " reckless disregard " )! Angry with an infant

that uses glass bottles and an organic teether that took me one month to find!

-------------- Original message from Binstock

Bisphenol A most harmful to infants, study says

MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT

From Friday's Globe and Mail

January 11, 2008 at 3:58 AM EST

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080111.wbisphenol11/BNStory\

/specialScienceandHealth/home