Radio Shows | Something You Weren't Expecting in Your Water Bottle — BA | mp3 … wma … wav

You may be rethinking your allegiance to bottled water if you've seen all the media coverage on a chemical called Bisphenol-A or BPA.

Studies show BPA can "leach" from plastics especially "hard plastics" like polycarbonate. You find it in everything from baby and bike water bottles to coffee makers and cell phones.

So it seems we're all exposed to BPA. Just how does it affect our health? According to the plastics industry, it doesn't. They contend BPA has been safely used since the 1940's. In fact, high doses of BPA given to animals do not appear to have lasting health effects. Even the US Food and Drug Administration says BPA can be used for food storage and packaging.

I hope they're right, since well over 5 billion pounds of BPA was produced and used last year alone. But, consider this — more than 95% of Americans have detectable levels of BPA in their urine.

While high doses of BPA given to animals may have no lasting effects, human exposure to low doses may. Studies show BPA can predispose a person to obesity, neurological problems and even breast and prostate cancer.

BPA is a synthetic estrogen that interferes with the normal activities of the estrogen in our bodies. Hormones work in extremely low concentrations which explains how BPA can have dramatic effects at such low levels.

Convincing scientific evidence links BPA to chromosomal abnormalities in fertilized egg growth. Even scarier, changes during early development in the uterus and after birth are irreversible. This shows the early stages of life are very susceptible to BPA.

So what can you do to avoid BPA? First, limit exposure to BPA containing plastics if you're pregnant or have young children. Also avoid canned goods with plastic liners.

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