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Bisphenol-A (BPA) is not just a worrisome chemical in hard plastic water bottles, baby bottles, and sippy cups. Almost all canned foods are full of the stuff. And our biggest source of exposure could be the thermal paper cash register receipts we handle every time we shop, especially during the holiday season. The fact is that BPA is in a lot of surprising products we touch every day and in higher levels than we previously thought. Will our government protect us from this chemical? Or must we as consumers take matters into our own hands?
Keeping BPA Out of Children’s Bottles, Toys, Cups, & Dishes
As BlogHer CE Amy Gates reported back in September, Senator Diane Feinstein hoped to give a nice present to U.S. kids this year. She planned to introduce an amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Act that would have banned the use of BPA (a hormone-disrupting chemical linked to cancer and birth defects) in baby bottles and sippy cups, and she worked for months on a compromise measure that members of both parties could support.
Unfortunately, Feinstein didn’t get far. The American Chemistry Council (the primary lobbying group for the chemical industry) made a last minute push against the measure, just as it has against legislation banning phthalates, plastic bags, and other harmful products, and blocked the amendment before it reached the Senate floor. (Video: Feinstein speaks up against BPA & calls the ACC on the carpet) Bah humbug, kids.
Once again, consumers are left to protect ourselves from toxic chemicals when our government fails to. As Feinstein wrote in her Huffington Post piece last month,
I’m not going to give up, and neither should consumers. Just because chemical industry lobbyists blocked a vote on BPA doesn’t mean you can’t vote with your wallet every time you purchase a product. The chemical industry doesn’t want you to know about companies that are already phasing out BPA or are searching for alternatives. But those companies are out there and deserve our support.
Protect Yourself: Use web sites such as Z Recommends and The Soft Landing to find BPA-free children’s products. Opt for non-plastic children’s toys, bottles, and foodware whenever possible since even BPA-free plastic may contain other harmful chemicals.
BPA in Metal Food and Beverage Cans
Nearly all food and beverage cans (whether they contain vegetables, fruits, tomatoes, tuna fish, meats, or sodas) are lined with BPA, and according to The National Work Group for Safe Markets’s recent No Silver Lining study, worrisome levels of the chemical were found in every kind of metal can the group tested, whether organic brands or conventional, new cans off the grocery store shelf or those that had been sitting in home pantries for a while.
Protect Yourself: Opt for fresh fruits and vegetables when possible rather than processed. Eating primarily local foods in season can reduce the need for canned foods. Choose glass jars and bottles rather than metal or plastic. When necessary, opt for one of the few brands that has switched to a non-BPA can lining. Eden Organics packages its beans (but not its tomatoes) in BPA-free cans. Muir Glen has plans to get the BPA out of its tomato products. And Trader Joe’s has similar plans for its canned foods, although they are not yet stating which of their products is BPA-free.
But be aware that all cans necessarily contain some kind of liner to keep the metal from corroding, and whether or not the alternative liners turn out to be safer in the long run than BPA liners is not yet known. Limiting exposure to processed foods in general is always a good idea.
BPA-Coated Cash Register and Credit Card Receipts
Some of us may be exposed to more BPA from the thermal paper receipts we touch than from foods and beverages. Unlike the BPA bound up in hard plastics and epoxy linings that can leach into our foods and beverages, BPA is applied to thermal paper as a powder coating that can easily rub off. According to chemist John C. Warner in an article in ScienceNews last year,
When people talk about polycarbonate bottles, they talk about nanogram quantities
