BPA: Biting the hand that feeds you

Bisphenol A. Not a word that rolls off the tongue at parties. Bisphenol A, also know as "BPA" is a plasticizer that was discovered in 1895. As early as 1936 studies showed that it is an endocrine disruptor and xenoestrogen. In other words, it acts like estrogen and alters sex hormone balance in the body. Since the first study in 1936, there have been thousands of animal studies and over 100 clinical studies demonstrating the harmful effects of BPA. (I touched on BPA in this blog)

BPA makes plastics hard but shatter proof, is used in tin can liners, hard water bottled (like Nalgene), compact disks, glasses, sealants and the vast majority of bottle bottles. It's everywhere, in everything and it leaches into whatever food or liquid is inside it.

A number of studies have shown that it increases the risk of abnormal development of genitalia is children because of the estrogen like effects. It has also been linked to cancer for the same reason and infertility problems in men.

Estrogen imbalances, either too high or low, can be linked to many functional disorders--imbalances where lab tests are normal, but a person is not completely well. For example, excess estrogen plays a role in emotional swings, in autimmune disorders like lupus, multiple sclerosis and even psoriasis, and ear, nose and throat complaints (especially tonsillitis and strep throat).

Estrogen levels that are suppressed (xenoestrogens, like birth control pills can end up reducing our body's ability to make natural estrogen) can lead to delayed brain development in children, low thyroid activity and memory and learning problems, including Alzheimer's disorder.

In my practice I pay close attention to estrogen imbalances and address them through an environmental analysis and medicinal plants which can be very helpful for the hormonal imbalances, as well as gentle detoxification.

Activists have been trying to get it banned for years, but the FDA said that they did not have enough evidence to ban it. They based this, according to a recent Washington Post article, on 2 articles funded by the American Chemistry Council, an industry lobbying group while ignoring the 100 clinical articles demonstrating BPA's dangers. Regarding the BPA ruling by the FDA in 2008, an FDA internal investigation criticized the FDA's own ruling. Read here and here.

The FDA has been influenced by industry groups and political money for far too long. For example, a medical device approved by the FDA in which all 4 congressmen from the device maker's state had received campaign contributions within 4 months before the device was approved.

I applaud the new vigor that the Oboma administration has given to the FDA and especially applaud its deputy commission, Dr. Sharfstein, a fellow pediatrician and the person behind the move to remove cough and cold medicines from the shelf for children under 2 years of age.

However the bottom line is that the watchdogs for our safety are so heavily influenced by the hand that feeds them, and so constrained by archane regulatory loop holes and bureaucratic red tape that it is up to use, as informed physicians and patients, to monitor our own environment and health.