Your beverage bottle may have a toxic plastic ingredient

  • 20/04/2008

  • Indian Express (New Delhi)

Canada could be the first country to make a health finding against bisphenola or BPA, which has been shown to disrupt the hormonal systems of animals. Then on Thursday, a report from the United States Department of Health and Human Services' National Toxicology Programme endorsed a scientific panel's finding that there was "some concern' about neural and behavioral changes in humans who consume BPA, which is widely used to make polycarbonate plastics, which are rigid and transparent like glass but very unlikely to shatter. Polycarbonates have many uses that pose no risk, like the cases of some iPod models. Because animal tests have shown that even small amounts of the chemical may cause changes in the body, however, researchers have focused on food- and drink-related applications of BPA, like beverage bottles. Some scientists question the significance to humans of studies indicating that even very small amounts of BPA. can induce changes in animals. There is also some dispute about how much of the chemical is released by plastics.