A blog set out to explore, archive & relate plastic pollution happening world-wide, while learning about on-going efforts and solutions to help break free of our addiction to single-use plastics & sharing this awareness with a community of clean water lovers everywhere!
So she spilled a few hundred more barnacle guts -- and found humanity's synthetic soul.
"I think it speaks to the ubiquity of plastic in the North Pacific,"
she tells the Huffington Post Canada. "There is a little tiny piece of
plastic spread out over thousands upon thousands of miles of the open
ocean really far away from land. It is really an enormous problem."
Goldstein, an oceanographer at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography plucked the barnacles from the notorious North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.
A vast expanse of plastic in the north Pacific, it's commonly called
the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- a sprawling indictment of our
wasteful ways, where coffee cups, bags, toys, and
whatever-you-wrapped-your-sandwich-in clumps together in the North
Pacific.
And it's increasingly finding its way into the food chain.
"There are whales and sea birds and sea turtles and fish all eating
plastic," Goldstein says. "It's not surprising that barnacles are too."
Gooseneck barnacles -- Goldstein describes them as "essentially a
little shrimp living upside down in a shell and eating with their feet"
-- may be able to handle the plastic better than other marine animals.
"It really appears from looking at their guts that the plastic was just passing through," she adds.
In that case, the barnacles would be doing us no favours, as the plastic isn't broken down.
Sea turtles and birds, on the other hand, show well-documented signs
of intestinal blockage after eating plastic. Many simply starve.
Barnacles, on the other hand, are much more likely to serve as quiet, gnawing condemnation of our plastic ways.
"I think we should be concerned that the ocean is actually covered in
a sprinkling of plastic particles," she says. "The barnacles are
reflecting the fact that there is a tonne of plastic in the open ocean.
"We need to do more to understand what that might mean. We don don't
know. This is a pretty new and large-scale and depressing problem.
Plastic has only been around as a consumer product since the 1950s."
It all reminds her of an ancient culture that "used to think that the soul was in the stomach"
She was 41 by the time she
saw her first whale off the coast of Maui, and Michigan-born Peggy
West-Stap says it changed her life.
"I immediately decided I wanted to provide the opportunity for
anybody to have the same experience," said Stap, 58, who in 2006 founded
Marine Life Studies, a Monterey Peninsula environmental organization
specializing in research, education and conservation surrounding the
protection of marine wildlife.
Stap and a gaggle of volunteer ocean stewards were hosts
Saturday of a five-hour whale-watching cruise on Monterey Bay for "Flip
for Whales," a special fundraiser to keep the nonprofit alive and
thriving.
The day was a dandy 70 degrees, with placid waters. The crew and
passengers of the 60-foot vessel "High Spirits" spotted around 50
whales — mostly humpbacks — plus a variety of other sea life.
"We saw whales breaching, coming up to feed. ... It was just a
stellar day," said Jerry Perezchica, the organization's program manager.
"We also saw lots of sea lions in mass formations because as the
humpbacks were feeding, they also were expelling food, and the
surrounding marine life was taking advantage that."
The economic climate for nonprofits is challenging nowadays —
grants have diminished or vanished altogether, and donations have
largely dried up. But Stap and her staff are determined to battle the
tides for their cause.
"My greatest love is the ocean, doing research on whales and
dolphins, teaching research techniques to our interns, taking kids,
teenagers, college students and adults out on the water so they can
experience it personally and develop a love of their own," she said.
"We've educated people from the Midwest, where I'm originally from,
about the fact that anything they do there will affect our waterways and
oceans. If we can show those people how wonderful our oceans are, and
send them back home with that knowledge, maybe we can reduce the amount
of plastic use."
Plastic is the ocean's enemy because it never goes away — it
only degrades into smaller particles. Plastic and other contaminants
from waters like Lake Erie — which has more parts per million of plastic
than the infamous stretch of floating debris known as the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch — travel downstream to the ocean, where they are ingested
by sea life (and, subsequently, ingested by humans).
Marine Life Studies takes a multi-pronged approach to education
that includes Stap's own creation, Take It to the Streets, a regular
cleanup effort in which volunteers pick up trash before it can reach
storm drains, which flow into Monterey Bay.
In bimonthly cleanups since April, plus one in January, they've
collected 66,335 items, including 44,844 cigarette butts, 9,493 plastic
items and 7,001 paper items, plus metal, foam plastics, household items
and medical hygiene items. The collection weighs 900 pounds.
"We don't just collect the trash, we analyze it," Perezchica
said. "What we're striving to do is understand the source of the trash
so we can better educate the public."
The organization also teaches classes at the Boys and Girls
Clubs of Monterey County in Salinas and Seaside, then takes the students
whale-watching. A highlight of a recent trip was when Nick Levin,
skipper of the Star of Monterey, shot off his engines, then asked his
passengers to be completely quiet so they could hear the one-of-a-kind
sound of a blue whale expelling a 30-foot spout of water from its blow
hole.
Stap and Marine Life Studies also are involved with an effort to
track down and free whales that have become entangled in fishing line,
fishing nets and other man-made debris.
The organization has attracted interns — who serve as ocean
stewards on whale-watching excursions — from as far away as Australia
and Ireland.
Sarah Colosimo, an Australian, said she was connected with the
organization through a friend who had done humpback whale research with
Stap.
"He told me that Peggy also did orca research, and I'm really
passionate about orca whales, so I got in touch with her and here I am,"
Colosimo said. "It's a truly amazing experience. Doing research is
totally cool — a dream come true. I had my first experience with an orca
last weekend, which was a moment I had waited for my whole life."
Rachael Sutton, a Lake County resident, said part of her
pleasure is watching other passengers enjoy their own whale-watching
experience.
"We saw a lot of humpbacks today, and a whole bunch of sea lions
jumping around, playing with them," she said. "It was so much fun
watching other people experience this awesome thing we have here in
Monterey. Connecting wildlife and people together is really great."
Twins Ben and Georgia Bence, both Monterey High School
sophomores in the school's Marine Animal Ocean Science program, met Stap
through a class she taught for the Regional Parks District.
"It's been my dream to have hands-on experiences like this and
to really make a difference," Georgia Bence said. "This organization has
given me so many amazing opportunities. Whales are so majestic and
beautiful, and just being able to witness the power is overwhelming."
Marine Life Studies is a finalist in Toyota's "100 Cars For
Good" competition, which will award a new vehicle to the organization
that receives the most online votes. Visit www.100carsforgood.com on Nov. 9 to vote.
Posted in Sail-World.comby Sailors for the Sea - Ocean Watch Essay
'Microplastics, picked up from the ocean in a bucket - Photo by Maggie Ostdahl'
.
No doubt you have heard of the so-called
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and thought goodness, that’s terrible,
someone should clean up that island of trash.
Here is the real
story: There is no island of trash (it’s more of a trashy soup), and
the solution is to stop our trash – mostly made of plastic – from
getting to the middle of the ocean. Solving the problems of marine
debris and plastic pollution is a perfect example of the need to think
globally and act locally.
What is marine debris, and why does it end up in gyres?
Marine
debris, as defined by NOAA, is 'any persistent solid material that is
manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or
unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or
the Great Lakes.'
One recent list of Top Ten items found in the ocean - .. .
There is a growing body of scientific studies about marine debris, its
composition, and its direct and indirect impacts to marine wildlife and
us. Some things we do know: most marine debris (60-80%) actually comes
from land-based sources (e.g. humans), and that the majority of marine
debris – again up to 80% in some studies – is some form of plastic.
Plastic
can be a very useful material, but by design it is durable,
lightweight, convenient – and now everywhere. These are the very
characteristics that help blow it or carry it from our human community
out to the ocean.
Let’s take as an example the ubiquitous
plastic water bottle bought from a convenience store, or by the case
(wrapped in more plastic, of course). When you are done with it, you put
it in the recycling bin – but what if it the bottle never gets to the
recycling plant? It could easily blow or wash into a nearby stream or
river instead, especially if it goes into a storm drain (water through
storm drains is not treated at wastewater treatment plants, so all trash
that goes into them goes into the watershed and ultimately out to the
ocean).
Along the way, sun and water may break the plastic
bottle into smaller and smaller plastic pieces, but it will not degrade
entirely. If this plastic bottle began in California, chances are it –
or its plastic bits - are now in the large ocean currents that
contribute to the North Pacific gyre.
Gyre accumulations - .. .
A gyre is any vortex in air or water, but the word is most commonly
used to refer to natural convergence zones of ocean currents that rotate
because of the Coriolis Effect. There are gyres in the five major ocean
basins - North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian, South Pacific and
North Pacific. These gyres are not fixed areas; they shift depending on
wind, waves, and currents. Scientists are actively studying the gyres,
and how they tend to concentrate marine debris.
In the
meantime, our trash continues to drift out to the middle of the ocean.
Along the way, marine debris entangles or is eaten by fish, turtles,
seabirds, whales, and so on. Plastic particles floating in the ocean can
also be small platforms to transport environmental pollutants and
invasive species throughout the sea.
And now, the solution:
The
good news is that there are many individuals and groups around the
world raising awareness and encouraging all of us to help slow and stop
our tide of trash before it becomes marine debris. Plastic pollution and
marine debris have been topics of a number of TED talks, and ‘trending
topics’ in social media.
Local, state and national
governments are crafting laws and policies to address marine debris.
People and communities are changing trash habits, as we all begin to
understand that there is no 'away' in our throwaway culture.
The case study of the San Francisco Bay Area: What are some specific things going on in the Bay Area as I write this essay?
For
one, there are year-round beach and shoreline clean-ups organized by
Sea Scavenger Conservancy, Surfrider, Save the Bay, Golden Gate National
Parks Conservancy, Aquarium of the Bay, The Marine Mammal Center, and
many others.
All of these groups and more also participate in
Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Clean-up via California
Coastal Clean-up Day. Coastal clean-up day is every year on the third
Saturday in September – the 2013 Clean-up is around the corner on
September 21!
Beyond coastal clean-ups, San Francisco and many
surrounding cities and counties are changing our attitude and habits
around trash and working towards Zero Waste. Aquarium of the Bay since
2005 has been part of the San Francisco Green Business program, which
includes commitments to generate less waste in our daily operations. In
fact, as of 2009 in San Francisco, residents and businesses MUST recycle
and compost; it’s the law.
While European countries lead the
way in reducing single-use plastic bag waste, in 2007 San Francisco was
the first city in the United States to ban single-use plastic checkout
bags at certain stores.
This bag ordinance was expanded in
2012; it has also been used as a model for cities. San Francisco has
also banned the use of polystyrene food containers by all food vendors
and restaurants.
Zero Waste rules and behaviours extend to all
events taking place in the city, too. A great example is the 34th
America’s Cup and their implementation of Clean Regattas Best Practices
along with the America’s Cup Healthy Ocean Project, whose many partners
have removed over 170 tons of trash and counting from the San Francisco
Bay shoreline, keeping it from becoming marine debris.
Take Action:
You CAN make a difference. Follow these steps to create a positive future for the ocean:
1.
Pledge to help reduce marine debris and encourage others to do the
same. There are a number of good campaigns to clean up the ocean -
google them in your area, sign one, or sign them all. If there are none
in your area, start one!
2. Follow through: reduce your
plastic and trash habit with reusable grocery bags, reusable containers
and straws and buying products with less packaging.
3. Join a clean-up near you on any local 'Clean-up Day' in your area
4.
Learn more and spread the word. There are some great resources
online, which include, referring to the San Francisco area: Plastic
Debris in the California Marine Ecosystem, San Francisco Zero Waste, and
NOAA's Marine Debris Program.
by Sailors for the Sea - Ocean Watch Essay
Published in FindLaw.com, the leading and largest online resource for legal information. For basic legal issues to more complex ones, you’ll find thousands of helpful articles, a legal community to get answers to your specific questions, an attorney directory, blogs, news, DIY forms, and much more.
BPA in Plastic and Epoxy Resins Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic compound used to manufacture certain kinds of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins that frequently appear in baby and water bottles, food packaging and medical and dental devices. Businesses have used BPA in products and packaging since 1957, and still currently use roughly 8 billion pounds of BPA per year as of 2011.
Problems can arise when BPA leaches out of the products that contain it and into the human body, however. Bisphenol A in the human body mimics the function of the female sex hor mone estrogen, and several studies have linked BPA to adverse health effects, especially for infants and children.
Researchers believe that BPA can leach from products when they are filled with hot or acidic materials or cleaned with harsh detergents. Consumers have filed several lawsuits against manufacturers of products containing BPA, and organizations have filed lawsuits to force government regulators to take action on the issue of BPA in food and beverage containers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently shifted its stance on BPA, stating that exposure to the chemical is of "some concern" for infants and children. Several states have also passed legislation banning the use of BPA in cer tain products, such as baby bottles.
What Products Contain BPA? After intense media focus on the issue of BPA in consumer products, several manufacturers have ended the use of BPA in their products. Manufacturers still commonly use BPA in a range of products, however. Here are some examples of products that commonly contain, or used to contain, BPA:
• Canned foods, including canned infant for mula • Aluminum soft drink cans • Lunch boxes • Many plastic food containers with recycling labels 3 and 7 • Reusable water bottles (both plastic and metal) • Hard plastic baby bottles • Sippy cups for young children
Many, but not all, of the plastic products marked with the recycling codes 3 and 7 contain BPA. Products with other recycling codes generally do not contain BPA.
What Risks Follow Exposure to BPA? Since BPA mimics the hormone estrogen in the human body, it has the potential to cause a wide range of health problems, especially for young children. Researchers have linked exposure to BPA with numerous issues, but it is important to note that the research into BPA exposure is still at an early stage.
Studies have found connections between BPA exposure and: • Obesity • Neurological development issues • Increased risk of cancer • Reproductive problems • Hear t disease • Sexual difficulties
BPA Lawsuits Based on the health risks that have researchers have identified, several plaintiffs have filed lawsuits against manufacturers of products containing BPA. Those cases were consolidated into one multidistr ict lawsuit overseen by the Wester n District Court of Missouri. The plaintiffs have asserted several claims, including violation of state consumer protection statutes, fraud, breach of warranty, unjust enrichment, str ict product liability, breach of contract and negligence .
Defendants in the litigation originally included manufacturers of baby and water bottles and infant for mula producers, although the court dismissed the for mula defendants in late 2009. At least one manufacturer has already settled the lawsuit against it. Philips agreed to offer refunds to purchasers of its Avent brand baby bottles and sippy cups, but continued to argue that it had offered adequate notice concerning the presence of BPA in the products.
In addition to lawsuits by consumers, the Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration seeking to force the agency to respond to a petition the NRDC submitted requesting a ban on BPA in food packaging.
BPA in Baby Bottles As mentioned above, researchers studying the effects of BPA believe that exposure to the chemical can have serious impacts on the development of infants and young children. Because of this, the presence of BPA in baby bottles is of major concern to parents and regulators.
Most manufacturers of baby bottles and sippy cups have voluntar ily removed BPA from their products, but several states have gone further and banned BPA from children’s products altogether. While each ban is different, their general intent is to forbid the use of BPA in products meant for children, usually under the age of three years. Some of the products covered by the bans include baby bottles and sippy cups, formula and baby food.
So far, seven states have passed this type of ban - Minnesota, Maryland, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Washington, Ver mont,and New York. Federal regulation is currently pending in Congress as well.
Conclusion The science surrounding BPA suggests that exposure to the chemical can have negative impacts on health, especially for infants and children. While many manufacturers have voluntar ily stopped using BPA in their products, BPA was, and remains, present in a wide range of products. Litigation currently underway will determine the liability, if any, that manufacturers will face for their customer’s exposure to BPA.
Plastic waste is one of humanity's biggest legacies. Why not live in it?
published in fastcoexist.com click the link to view larger photos of the designs.
The Maas river runs through France, Belgium, the Netherlands,
and empties into the North Sea. It also carries huge amounts of Europe's
trash from its cities into the ocean.
Inspired by what's floating by,
Dutch architect Ramon Knoester and his firm WHIM have spent the last
four years dreaming up ways to turn one of our greatest environmental
ills into built utopias on water. Knoester’s latest vision: Floating
parks and villas.
In 2010, Knoester received a grant from the Netherlands Architecture
Fund to develop a floating prototype out of hollow blocks of recycled
plastic.
His designs contained a prefab foundation that fit together
like puzzle pieces, the roofs embedded with solar cells and energy
derived from waves. Originally, Knoester intended the project for the
North Pacific Gyre, which harbors a massive, swirling convergence of
microplastics commonly called the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," but
eventually he realized he'd have to scale down. Harvesting plastic from
the middle of the ocean proved too difficult and costly.
"We started really big, but the main problem for the North Pacific Gyre is that the plastics there are really hard to collect. So far this technology hasn’t been developed to our knowledge," Knoester tells Co.Exist.
Knoester has adjusted his vision accordingly: Collaborating with
students at Rotterdam University, local government officials, a chemist,
a naval architect, and engineers, the Recycled Island project is now
working on both housing and recreational areas built on debris collected
at the mouth of the Maas in Rotterdam.
“Rotterdam is the last city the river runs through before it ends in the sea,” Knoester explains on the Recycled Island site.
“Therefore, Rotterdam has a large potential in extracting the river’s
floating waste before it reaches the sea and becomes part [of] the
increasing floating oceanic debris.” Much of the city is also below sea
level, Knoester adds. He claims that his floating environment is
“climate proof and resistant to flood.”
Earlier this summer, Knoester published mock-ups of Re:Villa, a
floating family home inspired by yachts. Unlike the luxury boats,
Re:Villa aims to be self-sustaining, complete with a garden, compost
toilets, and a rainwater filtration system. He also designed a public
park on the water and plans to roll out a prototype of the experiment in
a year.
"We think if we start with that, it’s a good beginning," Knoester
says. "And of course, if we can prove a floating habitat, and the
technology for gathering plastic improves in the North Pacific Gyre,
then hopefully we can develop it there."
"It is, I think, a problem all over Europe and maybe all over the world” Prof Christian LaforschUniversity of Bayreuth
The problem of large amounts of plastic polluting the world's oceans has been well documented in recent years.
As well as bigger pieces that can choke sea creatures when ingested, there is an equally serious issue with very small fragments called micro-plastics.
But research on the problems caused by plastic in lakes has been lacking.
Danger on the shore
This new study looked at Lake Garda, a large, sub-alpine body
of water. The researchers found significant concentrations of plastic in
sediment samples. On the north shore they found around 1,000 larger
particles per square metre and 450 micro-plastic particles in the same
area.
"We were surprised," lead author Prof Christian Laforsch from the University of Bayreuth told BBC News.
Freshwater crustaceans from Lake Garda were found to have micro-plastic particles in their digestive tracts
"We have similar amounts of plastic particles in the sediment of the lake's ecosystem as we find in marine ecosystems."
Chemicals found in plastics can be poisonous, can damage endocrine systems or in some cases cause cancers.
They can also transport dangerous organic pollutants into clean environments like lakes.
Landfill to lakePrevious research
on fish and other marine creatures has shown that these species tend to
accumulate tiny plastic fragments into their tissue. Prof Laforsch
worries that this is happening in Lake Garda and elsewhere.
"What we show is that filter feeders and sediment feeders and
organisms that feed on the surface layer of the lake, all swallow these
plastic particles mistaking them for food.
"There might be impacts when it affects the hormone system,
they could become sterile for example. It could also be, that when fish
are feeding on these organisms they accumulate these particles also in
their tissue."
The problem is being caused by human use of plastic materials say the researchers.
Apart from water sports, and tourist and fishing boats, the
main sources of waste entering Lake Garda were discarded plastic
products and debris which may originate from landfill sites.
An art exhibit made up from pieces of plastic found in the marine environment
The scientists are also concerned that the discovery of
significant amounts of plastic in lake environments could have
implications for human populations as the waters are often used for
drinking and for agriculture.
And they argue that, as in the seas, plastic pollution is likely to be widespread in freshwater bodies.
"There is nothing particular about Lake Garda," said Prof Laforsch.
"We are testing in Bavaria and it looks pretty much the same.
It is, I think, a problem all over Europe and maybe all over the
world."
Published by USA Today health reporter, Liz Szabo, October 8, 2013
Doctors sound alarm about prenatal health hazards.
A
growing number of health advocates are raising concerns about possible
links between the estrogen-like chemical BPA and breast cancer.
Consumer concern about BPA, or bisphenol A, has led manufacturers to remove it from baby bottles and infant formula packaging.
Still,
BPA also could pose a risk to children long before they take their
first sip of milk, according to a September report from the Breast
Cancer Fund, an advocacy group. Babies also are exposed in the womb, the
report finds.
A developing fetus is especially vulnerable during
the first 11 weeks of pregnancy, says co-author Sharima Rasanayagam,
director of science at the Breast Cancer Fund. "Everything is being
developed" at this stage, she says. "The building blocks are being laid
down for future health."
The report cites 60 animal and human
studies, which link prenatal BPA exposure to an increased risk of a
variety of health problems, from breast cancer and prostate cancer to
decreased fertility, early puberty, neurological problems and immune
system changes.
In
a September paper, too new to be included in the report, Tufts
University's Ana Soto found that BPA increased the risk of mammary
cancers in rats. In two studies of rhesus monkeys published last year,
other researchers found that BPA disrupted egg development, damaged
chromosomes and caused changes in the mammary gland that made animals
more susceptible to cancer.
Soto says it's possible that prenatal
BPA exposure makes fetuses more sensitive to estrogen, a hormone that
drives the growth of most breast cancers. In that way, BPA could
indirectly increase the risk of breast cancer later in life. She notes
that even small changes in prenatal estrogen exposure — such as that
produced by the extra placenta in a uterus containing fraternal twins —
increases the risk of breast cancer in girls and prostate cancer in
boys.
In a separate action, the American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine
also have released a joint report on the broader issue of prenatal
exposure to toxins, from BPA to pesticides and other chemicals. That
September report notes that in utero exposure to environmental chemicals
has been linked to miscarriage and stillbirth, impaired fetal growth
and low birth weight, preterm birth, childhood cancers, birth defects,
intellectual impairment and thyroid problems.
In 2011, the
American Medical Association labeled BPA an "endocrine-disrupting agent"
because of evidence suggesting that it disrupts the body's normal
hormonal regulation.
In 2009, the Endocrine Society — a group of
doctors and researchers specializing in the hormonal system — called
hormone-disrupting chemicals such as BPA a "significant concern for
public health," possibly causing infertility, cancer and malformations.
"Every
pregnant woman in America is exposed to many different chemicals in the
environment," says Jeanne Conry, president of the obstetrics-gynecology
group.
More than 90% of American have BPA in their
bodies, research shows. Ten studies have found BPA in fetal tissue,
including umbilical cord blood, as well as in amniotic fluid, the Breast
Cancer Fund report notes.
BPA was developed in the 1930s as an
estrogen-replacement therapy. Researchers stopped developing BPA as an
estrogen, however, because another synthetic hormone, DES, or
diethylstilbestrol, was far more potent.
Conry says she's
concerned that exposure to BPA could, like DES, change the way that a
developing fetus reacts to estrogen for the rest of its life.
Millions
of pregnant women took DES from 1941 to 1971 to prevent miscarriage,
until studies found that women exposed to DES before birth had a high
rate of rare vaginal cancers. Studies later linked DES to breast cancer,
as well.
While concern over BPA has led many manufacturers to
stop using the chemical in plastic bottles, it remains widely used in
other plastics, such as bicycle helmets, eyeglasses and medical
equipment and the linings of metal food cans. BPA also is found in the
coatings on many cash-register paper receipts.
Since 2011, the Breast Cancer Fund has campaigned to persuade food companies to stop using BPA.
Campbell's
Soup last year announced that it will phase out BPA, but has not yet
announced when that will happen, or what material it will use instead.
Eden Foods has sold its beans in BPA-free cans since 1999. It now sells
tomatoes in glass jars, which have lower levels of BPA than traditional
cans.
The American Chemistry Council, an industry group, notes
that BPA plays an important role in food safety, because it "helps to
extend a product's shelf life and protects food from contamination and
spoilage."
"BPA is one of the most tested substances in use today
and regulatory agencies around the world have repeatedly found that the
evidence does not show a connection between typical exposure levels and
health effects or disease," says Jayne Morgan, chief medical officer at
the American Chemistry Council. "Women rely on their physicians for
sound medical advice and access to reliable information. Creating
confusion and alarm among expectant mothers will distract from the
well-established steps doctors recommend to support a healthy pregnancy
and a healthy baby."
The Food and Drug Administration's official
statement on BPA says that it is "safe at the very low levels that occur
in some foods.This assessment is based on review by FDA scientists of
hundreds of studies including the latest findings from new studies
initiated by the agency."
However, the FDA also has expressed
"some concern" about the potential effects of BPA on the brain,
behavior, and prostate gland in children, both before and after birth.
The FDA banned BPA in baby bottles in 2012, after most manufacturers
already had stopped using it. Earlier this year, the FDA formally banned
BPA in infant formula packaging, also after formula manufacturers
already had abandoned the chemical.
Manufacturers of metal cans say there's no clear evidence that BPA linings cause harm.
John
Rost, chairman of the North American Metal Packaging Alliance, says
that recent "studies, coupled with the extensive body of research on BPA
that has been thoroughly reviewed by FDA, and multiple international
regulatory bodies, continue to reaffirm that the trace amounts of BPA
found in metal food and beverage packaging does not represent a health
risk to humans at any age or stage of development."
A
growing number of studies have linked prenatal BPA exposure to genital
changes in babies, as well as behavioral changes in children,
Rasanayagam says.
Still, some breast cancer researchers say
there's not yet enough research to know if BPA really increases breast
cancer risk, and if removing it from consumer products will reduce that
risk.
"Yes, we should do the research," says surgeon Susan Love, author of Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book. "But I don't think we should be jumping ahead of the data."
Yet
Rasanayagam notes that doctors will never have the sort of scientific
proof about environmental chemicals that they have for other products,
such as new drugs. First, that's because it's unethical to deliberately
expose women and their fetuses to a potentially harmful substance.
Second, breast cancer can take 60 or 70 years to develop. So even a very
large trial would take decades to produce results.
Soto says that
the evidence for regulating the chemical is as good as it's going to
get. "It is no longer a problem of science," says Soto, of Tufts
University School of Medicine. "It's a problem of policy."
In the
face of uncertainty, Conry says doctors and their patients can take
sensible steps, such as avoiding plastics made with BPA and not heating
plastic in the microwave, which can cause chemicals to leach into food.
Yet
BPA is too ubiquitous for women to completely avoid, Conry says. That's
why the USA should "shift the burden of proof" from individuals to
manufacturers and regulators, who should make sure that pregnant women
and others aren't exposed to hazardous chemicals. She notes that there
are about 84,000 chemicals in use today, and 700 others are introduced
each year. Women and their doctors can't be expected to be experts on
all of them, she says.
"We shouldn't be releasing these chemicals
into the environment until they have had adequate study," Conry says.
"The burden shouldn't be on the consumer each time these issues come up.
That's more than the individual can take on."
