Feb. 7--Is your bowl of soup safe or are you sipping a toxic time bomb?
Controversy is spreading about BPA, a chemical used in water bottles and baby bottles. Now studies show a health hazard may lie in products found in most Americans' cabinets -- canned foods.
"We know that cans are indeed a major source of exposure," said Frederick vom Saal, a nationally recognized researcher of BPA, or bisphenol-A. "Practically all canned foods use the product."
The canned food industry says that BPA is safe. But a new Consumers Union study shows just one serving of tested canned vegetable soup has nearly twice the amount considered average exposure. In fact, researchers found BPA in most of the 19 tested name-brand canned foods.
The Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health announced last month the launch of in-depth BPA studies to "answer key questions and clarify uncertainties about the risks of BPA." Results are expected in 18 to 24 months.
Already, the chemical has been banned in children's products in Canada, along with Connecticut, Massachusetts, Chicago and two counties in New York. Bills for federal bans are pending in Congress.
But so far, Oklahoma is not poised to follow suit.
"I'm concerned," said Lee McGoodwin, Oklahoma Poison Control Center director. "But I think before we ban it, we need more research."
BPA is a hot topic now, said Vernon Bolz, chief of Consumer Health Service with the state Health Department. He noted studies by the National Institutes of Health that support possible adverse health effects from the product used in plastic food containers.
"It's too preliminary for our department to make any recommendations one way or another. It's kind of a new issue on the horizon. We'll be watching it real closely, and we'll be following recommendations of the FDA," Bolz said.
The good and bad of BPA packages
The American Chemistry Council, the industry association, released a statement that the industry is committed to consumer safety and that the chemical helps protect food from spoilage and contamination.
"Regulatory agencies around the world, which have recently reviewed the research, have reached conclusions that support the safety of BPA. Extensive scientific studies have shown that BPA is quickly metabolized and excreted and does not accumulate in the body," the statement reads.
BPA has been around since the 1960s but was recently eliminated from most baby bottles because of health concerns.
And federal health agencies now say there's "some concern" over how BPA could affect children's brains and behaviors, as well as boys' prostate glands.
Heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity in adults are all linked to BPA, some scientists say.
Vom Saal's work shows 202 government-funded studies showing harm, compared with 15 that found no adverse effects with low doses of BPA.
Chemistry corporation-funded work, however, shows four studies recording no adverse effects.
Two independent studies found the more BPA in your body, the greater your risk of heart disease, vom Saal said. Even tiny amounts of the chemical change the brain and behavior, he said. It takes very little BPA to make big changes because it is a hormone-like chemical that tricks the body and can lead to breast, uterine or ovarian cancer.
"The average person is already being exposed to amounts of this chemical that are increasing disease," said vom Saal, a professor with the University of Missouri.
But toxicologist Calvin Willhite, with California's Department of Toxic Substances Control, led a team that reviewed scientific studies on BPA.
Their conclusion was published in February 2008 in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health.
Their findings were that there is no clear indication the BPA doses normally consumed by humans pose an increased risk.
-----
To see more of The Oklahoman, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsok.com.
Copyright (c) 2010, The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.