BPA is a chemical used in plastic package manufacturing and there has been scrutiny of this chemical and its impact on health. BPA has been eliminated from plastic used for baby bottle manufacturing.
"Because of the concern about its potential toxicity in humans, BPA is increasingly replaced by structurally similar chemicals, in particular bisphenol F (BPF) (4,4′-dihydroxydiphenyl-methane) and bisphenol S (BPS) (4,4′-sulfonylbisphenol), in the manufacturing of polycarbonates and epoxy resins." However, surveys of urinary levels show that BPS is almost ubiquitous. {Lehmler, etal 2018]
So BPA-free may not be much different than containers with BPA for those looking to avoid the packaging additive.
https://news.uoguelph.ca/2020/01/bpa-replacement-hinders-heart-function-u-of-g-study-reveals/
BPA Replacement Hinders Heart Function, U of G Study Reveals
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
BPA’s counterpart replacement BPS can hinder heart function within minutes of a single exposure, according to a new University of Guelph study.
The study is the first to show the instant effects bisphenol S (BPS) can have on the heart.
“We expected to find similar effects from BPS as we have with BPA, but not at the speed that it worked,” said biomedical sciences professor Glen Pyle, who conducted the study with former master’s student Melissa Ferguson. “This replacement chemical seems to be more potent.”
Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in plastic products, was banned from baby bottles in Canada in 2010 over concerns that it may leach into foods and cause hormone-related side effects. More manufacturers are now using BPS as a replacement in their products and labelling them as BPA-free.
When mice were given bisphenol BPA or BPS in amounts that mimicked typical human levels, their heart function worsened, especially in females, within minutes of exposure.
These findings are concerning, as endocrine receptors and metabolic pathways are similar in mice and humans, said Pyle.
“This study raises concerns about the safety of BPS as a replacement for BPA.”
It’s particularly worrisome for people with coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity, because the effects of BPS could increase the chance of a heart attack or make a heart attack more severe, he added.
“If the heart is in a precarious position, when you add a stressor you can make it worse.”
Published recently in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, the study entailed treating mouse hearts with BPA and BPS at levels typically seen in people. Each chemical on its own was found to depress heart function by dampening heart contractions causing slower blood flow. However, BPS had a quicker impact – within five minutes of exposure.
Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bpa-free-plastic-containers-may-be-just-as-hazardous/
BPA-Free Plastic Containers May Be Just as Hazardous
Animal studies find that a replacement compound for the estrogen-mimicking chemical bisphenol A may also be harmful to human health
By Jenna Bilbrey on August 11, 2014
In 2012 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of baby bottles that contain bisphenol A (BPA), a compound frequently found in plastics. The ban came after manufacturers’ responded to consumer concerns of BPA's safety after several studies found the chemical mimics estrogen and could harm brain and reproductive development in fetuses, infants and children.* Since then store shelves have been lined with BPA-free bottles for babies and adults alike. Yet, recent research reveals that a common BPA replacement, bisphenol S (BPS), may be just as harmful.
BPA is the starting material for making polycarbonate plastics. Any leftover BPA that is not consumed in the reaction used to make a plastic container can leach into its contents. From there it can enter the body. BPS was a favored replacement because it was thought to be more resistant to leaching. If people consumed less of the chemical, the idea went, it would not cause any or only minimal harm.
Yet BPS is getting out. Nearly 81 percent of Americans have detectable levels of BPS in their urine. And once it enters the body it can affect cells in ways that parallel BPA. A 2013 study by Cheryl Watson at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston found that even picomolar concentrations (less than one part per trillion) of BPS can disrupt a cell’s normal functioning, which could potentially lead to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity, asthma, birth defects or even cancer. “[Manufacturers] put ‘BPA-free’ on the label, which is true. The thing they neglected to tell you is that what they’ve substituted for BPA has not been tested for the same kinds of problems that BPA has been shown to cause. That’s a little bit sneaky,” Watson says.
A 2011 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that almost all of the 455 commercially available plastics that were tested leached estrogenic chemicals. This study lead to a bitter legal battle between Eastman Chemical Co. and the study’s author, George Bittner, professor of neurobiology at The University of Texas at Austin and founder of CertiChem and PlastiPure, two companies designed to test and discover nonestrogenic plastics.
Bittner claimed in the peer-reviewed report that Eastman’s product Tritan, marketed to be completely free of estrogenic leaching, showed such activity. Eastman claimed otherwise and filed a suit. A federal jury ruled in favor of the latter, saying Bittner’s testing methods were inadequate because the tests were done in vitro—in a petri dish rather than in vivo, in a live animal.
REST of article - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bpa-free-plastic-containers-may-be-just-as-hazardous/
https://news.uoguelph.ca/2020/01/bpa-replacement-hinders-heart-function-u-of-g-study-reveals/
BPA Replacement Hinders Heart Function, U of G Study Reveals
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
BPA’s counterpart replacement BPS can hinder heart function within minutes of a single exposure, according to a new University of Guelph study.
The study is the first to show the instant effects bisphenol S (BPS) can have on the heart.
“We expected to find similar effects from BPS as we have with BPA, but not at the speed that it worked,” said biomedical sciences professor Glen Pyle, who conducted the study with former master’s student Melissa Ferguson. “This replacement chemical seems to be more potent.”
Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in plastic products, was banned from baby bottles in Canada in 2010 over concerns that it may leach into foods and cause hormone-related side effects. More manufacturers are now using BPS as a replacement in their products and labelling them as BPA-free.
When mice were given bisphenol BPA or BPS in amounts that mimicked typical human levels, their heart function worsened, especially in females, within minutes of exposure.
These findings are concerning, as endocrine receptors and metabolic pathways are similar in mice and humans, said Pyle.
“This study raises concerns about the safety of BPS as a replacement for BPA.”
It’s particularly worrisome for people with coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity, because the effects of BPS could increase the chance of a heart attack or make a heart attack more severe, he added.
“If the heart is in a precarious position, when you add a stressor you can make it worse.”
Published recently in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, the study entailed treating mouse hearts with BPA and BPS at levels typically seen in people. Each chemical on its own was found to depress heart function by dampening heart contractions causing slower blood flow. However, BPS had a quicker impact – within five minutes of exposure.
Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bpa-free-plastic-containers-may-be-just-as-hazardous/
BPA-Free Plastic Containers May Be Just as Hazardous
Animal studies find that a replacement compound for the estrogen-mimicking chemical bisphenol A may also be harmful to human health
By Jenna Bilbrey on August 11, 2014
In 2012 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of baby bottles that contain bisphenol A (BPA), a compound frequently found in plastics. The ban came after manufacturers’ responded to consumer concerns of BPA's safety after several studies found the chemical mimics estrogen and could harm brain and reproductive development in fetuses, infants and children.* Since then store shelves have been lined with BPA-free bottles for babies and adults alike. Yet, recent research reveals that a common BPA replacement, bisphenol S (BPS), may be just as harmful.
BPA is the starting material for making polycarbonate plastics. Any leftover BPA that is not consumed in the reaction used to make a plastic container can leach into its contents. From there it can enter the body. BPS was a favored replacement because it was thought to be more resistant to leaching. If people consumed less of the chemical, the idea went, it would not cause any or only minimal harm.
Yet BPS is getting out. Nearly 81 percent of Americans have detectable levels of BPS in their urine. And once it enters the body it can affect cells in ways that parallel BPA. A 2013 study by Cheryl Watson at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston found that even picomolar concentrations (less than one part per trillion) of BPS can disrupt a cell’s normal functioning, which could potentially lead to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity, asthma, birth defects or even cancer. “[Manufacturers] put ‘BPA-free’ on the label, which is true. The thing they neglected to tell you is that what they’ve substituted for BPA has not been tested for the same kinds of problems that BPA has been shown to cause. That’s a little bit sneaky,” Watson says.
A 2011 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that almost all of the 455 commercially available plastics that were tested leached estrogenic chemicals. This study lead to a bitter legal battle between Eastman Chemical Co. and the study’s author, George Bittner, professor of neurobiology at The University of Texas at Austin and founder of CertiChem and PlastiPure, two companies designed to test and discover nonestrogenic plastics.
Bittner claimed in the peer-reviewed report that Eastman’s product Tritan, marketed to be completely free of estrogenic leaching, showed such activity. Eastman claimed otherwise and filed a suit. A federal jury ruled in favor of the latter, saying Bittner’s testing methods were inadequate because the tests were done in vitro—in a petri dish rather than in vivo, in a live animal.
REST of article - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bpa-free-plastic-containers-may-be-just-as-hazardous/
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