Study Links Bisphenol A to Increased Incidence of Heart Disease and Diabetes

By Aaron Poehler

Published on September 16, 2008

A new major study reportedly demonstrates that people with elevated levels of the common chemical bisphenol A (BPA) are more likely to have heart disease, diabetes, and liver-enzyme abnormalities than those without.

The study of health history and blood and urine samples gathered from 1,455 U.S. adults by British and the University of Iowa researchers was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. While researchers indicated that more research is necessary before their findings are confirmed, they asserted that the study calls into question Food and Drug Administration assertions that BPA is safe. Previous studies have shown that BPA can mimic the hormone estrogen in the body.

FDA head of food additive safety Laura Tarantino said at a meeting Tuesday that an adequate margin of safety exists regarding BPA use at the current level of exposure and that studies with rats and mice which were relied upon for FDA assessment may have been more extensive than human research studies calling BPA safety into question.

BPA is commonly used in the manufacturing of polycarbonate plastic, a clear material often used in a wide range of products including safety equipment, medical devices, eyeglass lenses, compact discs, baby and water bottles, plastic eating utensils, coatings for food and beverage cans, and dental fillings.

 

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