Breaking new research indicates that manufacturers throughout the world who were using the toxic hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA), have simply switched to an equally toxic analogue in the same bisphenol chemical class known as bisphenol S (BPS), to evade regulatory oversight and trick consumers with their misleading "BPA-FREE!" labels....
If you are already sensitive to the highly concerning issue of toxic chemicals in everyday consumer products, you've probably noticed these "BPA-Free" labels popping up everywhere. Bisphenol A (BPA), of course, is a chemical capable of disrupting our hormones, and is especially problematic in pregnancy, infancy and childhood -- times of greatest susceptibility to the adverse effects of environmental exposures.
Now that consumers are refusing to buy BPA-containing containers, manufacturers have had no choice but to oblige with seemingly bisphenol-free alternatives. Ironically, BPA is used to make Sippy Cups (and polycarbonate) shatterproof, and therefore "safer." But, instead of manufacturers actually removing the danger in BPA-free labeled products, many are capitalizing on this marketing opportunity by removing only the perception of danger, opting to substitute BPA for equally toxic members of the bisphenol chemical class.
While BPA has received the most negative attention, often being labeled as "bisphenol" for short, the bisphenols are such a broad chemical class that they are identified pseudo-alphabetically, spanning letters A-Z:
- Bisphenol A
- Bisphenol AB
- Bisphenol AF
- Bisphenol B
- Bisphenol BP
- Bisphenol C
- Bisphenol E
- Bisphenol F
- Bisphenol G
- Bisphenol M
- Bisphenol S
- Bisphenol P
- Bisphenol PH
- Bisphenol TMC
- Bisphenol Z
Figure: Bisphenol A
Bisphenol A has become the primary focus of consumer advocates for several reasons:
1) It is the most extensively research bisphenol, with at least 40 potential adverse health effects identified in the biomedical literature thus far.
2) Canada became the first country to officially declare BPA a "toxic substance" in September 2010[1]
3) It has the highest production volume and use in consumer goods, with 2.2 million tons consumed globally in 2009.
Primary routes of exposure include:
- Plastics
- PVC water lines
- Canned Goods
- Thermal Receipt Paper
- All World Paper Currency
- Dental Sealants
Despite industry spokespersons and industry-funded scientists claiming BPA does not possess estrogenic properties of any biological significance, it was first acknowledged and used as an artificial estrogen in the early 1930's, where it was used both to fatten poultry and cattle, as well as a form of estrogen replacement therapy in women in the mid-1930's. [2] Only later, in the 1940's, did Bayer and General Electric use BPA to harden polycarbonate plastics and make epoxy resin, the latter of which is still used to line nearly the entire world's supply of food and beverage containers. Only Japanese industries, which responded to consumer concern about the toxic effects of BPA between 1998-2003, voluntarily reduced BPA in favor of safer alternatives.
Figure: Bisphenol S
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