Plastic Bottles Releasing Harmful Chemicals

Plastic Bottles Releasing Harmful Chemicals



Feb, 2008  - The clear, colorful plastic 
bottles often used by athletes and hikers to carry liquids release a 
chemical known to disrupt hormone function if the liquids they contain are 
hot, new research has confirmed. 
The endocrine disrupting chemical bisphenol-A, or BPA, is released when 
polycarbonate plastic is exposed to boiling water, according to University 
of Cincinnati scientists, whether the bottle is new or old. 
The chemical, which is widely used in products such as reusable water 
bottles, food can linings, water pipes and dental sealants, has been shown 
to affect reproduction and brain development in animal studies. 
Scott Belcher, PhD, and his team found when the same new and used 
polycarbonate drinking bottles were briefly exposed to boiling hot water, 
BPA was released up to 55 times more rapidly. 

"Previous studies have shown that if you repeatedly scrub, dish wash and 
boil polycarbonate baby bottles, they release BPA. That tells us that BPA 
can migrate from various polycarbonate plastics," explains Belcher, UC 
associate professor of pharmacology and cell biophysics. "But we wanted to 
know if ‘normal' use caused increased release." 
"Inspired by questions from the climbing community, we went directly to 
tests based on how consumers use these plastic water bottles and showed 
that the only big difference in exposure levels revolved around liquid 
temperature," Belcher said. "Bottles used for up to nine years released 
the same amount of BPA as new bottles." 
Belcher's team analyzed used polycarbonate water bottles from a local 
climbing gym and purchased new bottles of the same brand from an outdoor 
retail supplier. 
All bottles were subjected to seven days of testing designed to simulate 
normal usage during backpacking, mountaineering and other outdoor 
adventure activities. 
The researchers found that the amount of BPA released from new and used 
polycarbonate drinking bottles was the same, both in quantity and speed of 
release, into cool or temperate water. 
But once the bottles were exposed to boiling water the speed of BPA 
release was 15 to 55 times faster, explains Belcher. 
BPA is one of many manufactured chemicals classified as endocrine 
disruptors, which alter the function of the endocrine system by mimicking 
the role of the body's natural hormones. 
"There is a large body of scientific evidence demonstrating the harmful 
effects of very small amounts of BPA in laboratory and animal studies, but 
little clinical evidence related to humans," explains Belcher. "There is a 
very strong suspicion in the scientific community, however, that this 
chemical has harmful effects on humans." 
Belcher stresses that it is still unclear what level of BPA is harmful to 
humans, but he urges consumers to think about how cumulative environmental 
exposures might harm their health. 
"BPA is just one of many estrogen-like chemicals people are exposed to, 
and scientists are still trying to figure out how these endocrine 
disruptors - including natural phyto-estrogens from soy which are often 
considered healthy - collectively impact human health," he says. "But a 
growing body of scientific evidence suggests it might be at the cost of 
your health." 
The study was funded by a National Institute of Environmental Health 
Sciences grant. It is published in today's issue of the journal 
"Toxicology Letters." 

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