Cord Blood Samples Show BPA Present In Bodies Of 9 Out Of 10 Newborns - MJS

[hatrack]

A study released Wednesday which found that nine of 10 babies tested were born with bisphenol A in their systems has renewed calls for the chemical to be banned. In the study commissioned by the Environmental Working Group, scientists found the chemical in nine of 10 randomly selected samples of umbilical cord blood.

Previous studies have found BPA in the urine of 93% of Americans tested. But Wednesday's study is the first to find it in the cord blood of U.S. newborns.

"It's alarming," Janet Gray, director of the Environmental Risks and Breast Cancer project at Vassar College, said of the study results. "What more evidence do we need to act?"

More than 6 billion pounds of BPA are used each year to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. The chemical is used in thousands of common products, including the lining of nearly all food and beverage cans and as coating for carbonless paper receipts. BPA, which was developed as a synthetic estrogen, has been linked to breast and prostate cancer, cognitive and behavioral problems, reproductive failures, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and obesity.

EDIT

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/78384027.html

[hedgehog]

1. From the link"A decade ago, the government promised to test these chemicals. It still hasn't."

The phrase" a decade ago" can be vague, as can be the term "the governmnet". Did the Clinton EPA promise to do the testing, and the Bush EPA "forget"?

[sharp_stick]

2. At what levels though?

Testing can accurately measure levels of many chemicals down to femtomolar concentrations. If you measure people for cocaine derivatives with enough sensitivity you can see it after handling a bundle of $20 bills.

[azul]

3. Maybe this is Mother Nature's way

of countering the testosterone surge that is killing and cooking the whole darn world.

I'm not exactly kidding either.

[Delphinus]

4. I'm curious if

this will lead to another step in our evolutionary process? Both the testosterone surge and the BPA in the cord blood.