I know what you must be thinking – at first I didn’t believe it myself also. What is Bisphenol-A (BPA) in the first place? Well to start with a simple explanation to this it is a chemical compound that is found in polycarbonates that are used in the manufacturing of many household items that are used to store and cook food in them. The traditionally known plastic food storing units are usually loaded with BPA and when you use them to heat something in the microwave, the potential hazards are multiplied.

BPA is an organic compound that contains two phenols as functional groups. I will not go further in the chemistry here, but I will tell you that phenols are usually found in other compounds such as Estradiol – which is a female sex hormone, BTH – butylated hydroxytoluene, which is used as a preservative in many foods, but also in different types of compounds, as it mainly consists of an aromatic ring where a hydroxide group is attached. This makes it highly acidic and quite readily reactible.

It has been used in all of the plastic cookware and food storage units for ages and not until recently it has  been thought to be unhealthy to us, which has lead many people to look for non BPA products that could get them free from this potentially harmful chemical. The risks aren’t to be neglected even though the food industry is still claiming that it is a safe material to be used – personally I think that this is because of the fact that it would cost quite a lot to completely change their production lines in to producing items that are free from it.

What are the potential harms of bisphenol-A?

Ever since 2008 there has been studies that show us how dangerous this can be and here are a few conditions that could occur because there has been BPA exposure through different household items.

1. Obesity
2. Neurological issues
3. Disruption of the dopaminergic system
4. Thyroid problems
5. Breast Cancer
6. Prostate Cancer
7. Neuroblastoma
8. DNA methylation – that can lead to many different problems, such as various forms of cancer
9. Problems with the reproductive functions – infertility

This is not a compound that should be taken lightly, and even if the big companies are telling that their products do no release this compound in “harmful doses”, what is a harmful dose anyways? Well here is some stats from Wikipedia – I will put the daily dose (mcg/kg/day) there first and then put the condition that has been reported. Remember that mcg is microgram which is one thousandth of a milligram:

1. 0.025 – Irreversible changes to the genital tract and changes in the breast tissue – this could actually be a really big reason for the increase in breast cancer numbers.
2. 1 – long term problems with the reproductive system – meaning that if you are constantly heating stuff in a plastic container, you could actually experience infertility.
3. 2 – Increased prostate weight over 30% – do I see prostate cancer?
4. 2.4 – Decline in testicular testosterone
5. 2.5 – Breast cells more prone to cancer
6. 30 – Reversed normal differences in brain structure and behaviour.

Remember that thes are facts and the come from a series of studies that have been conducted in the early 21st century – these aren’t some old phishy studies but real hardcore scientist have taken this problem seriously and so should you.

The best thing that I can say here is that you should try to get rid of all the plastic that is in contact with your foods in your house. So if you are making ice cubes in a plastic ice cube tray – change it to a stainless steel model. If you are storing food in Tupperware(R), I suggest that you look for alternatives that don’t contain these harmful chemicals. If you are drinking water out from a bottle that is made of plastic, it is really the time to change to a stainless steel drinking bottle. I am not taking this information lightly, and I suggest that you don’t either!