More BPA, more bottled water

First, a special thank you to HoMedics for extending an invitation for me to attend their webinar on new home water purification systems. I look forward to learning more about your new technologies and bringing to the public a better piece of mind concerning tap water safety. Now...

Once again, why BPA research should be a priority

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have linked a chemical found in everyday plastics to problems with brain function and mood disorders in monkeys -- the first time the chemical has been connected to health problems in primates.

Previously, all BPA research had been conducted on mice. Refer to previous entries explaining why human subjects were inadequate for testing.

The study is the latest in an accumulation of research that has raises concerns about bisphenol A, or BPA, a compound that gives a shatterproof quality to polycarbonate plastic and has been found to leach from plastic into food and water. The Yale study comes as federal toxicologists yesterday reaffirmed an earlier draft report finding that there is "some concern" that bisphenol A can cause developmental problems in the brain and hormonal systems of infants and children.

And as we've gathered from other sources, issues span not only developmental (i.e. irregular puberty) issues, but also obesity, infertility, cancer, and possibly heart disease. 

"There remains considerable uncertainty whether the changes seen in the animal studies are directly applicable to humans, and whether they would result in clear adverse health effects," John R. Bucher, associate director of the National Toxicology Program, said in a statement. "But we have concluded that the possibility that BPA may affect human development cannot be dismissed."

Now that we've moved on to test subjects that can constitute as some of our specie's close cousins, we need to stop dismissing the idea that BPA could be harmless to us.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303397.html

I leave you with a fun fact about bottled water

From a 2006 report:

On a per capita basis, Italians actually have the highest rate of bottled water consumption, drinking 184 liters on average in 2004; this is more than two glasses of bottled water each day. In second and third place came Mexico and the United Arab Emirates, drinking 169 and 164 liters on average. Belgium (exluding Luxemboug) and France came up close too, drinking about 145 liters per person per year.

http://www.container-recycling.org/media/newsarticles/plastic/2006/5-WMW-DownDrain.htm