| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| Plastic bottles deadly for your brain |
| 2008-09-06 |
| TORONTO: Plastic containers may be deadly for your brain. Canadian researchers have found that Bisphenol A (BPA), the chemical used in making plastic containers, might be responsible for impairing many brain functions such as learning and remembering. They also fear that it could be a factor behind Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and depression. BPA is globally used in making plastic water bottles, baby food bottles, food containers and dental prostheses. In their study, the researchers at the University of Guelph, near Toronto, found that BPA might be leaking into the solid or liquid foods kept in the plastic containers. When these foods and liquids are consumed, they said, the chemical might be getting into the human system, disrupting communication between brain neurons which is vital in understanding and remembering. According to researcher Neil MacLusky, the slow doses of this chemical impair the formation of synapses in the areas of the human brain linked to learning. The researchers fed African green monkeys with foods containing low levels of BPA for a month. After that period, they found that the chemical had slowed down the synapses in the monkey brain. MacLusky said the process was linked to the hormone estrogen. "Estrogen enhances the rate at which some types of synapses are formed and is vital in maintaining normal neuronal structure in regions of the brain," he said. When monkeys had BPA in their system, he said, it seriously impaired this process, affecting their ability to remember. In another research, American researchers have found a fire retardant chemical used in electronics, toys and furniture at triple the levels found in their mothers. In a small pilot study of 20 families, the non-profit group, Environmental Working Group, tested blood samples from mothers and their children for the presence of PBDEs, a hormone-disrupting chemical. In 19 of the 20 families, concentrations of PBDEs were typically three times as high in children as in their mothers. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #10 Ima file suit against local star, I has a list of demands..... |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-09-06 21:15 |
| #9 "might" = research grant app |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-06 19:39 |
| #8 I work for a chemical company in their engineering department,polymers division. This company has never used BPA in making plastic used in anything. We are absolutely swamped with orders for raw materials. The research papers I have read simply do not support the conclusions of the Canadian researchers. BPA does not leach out of the plastics in any kind of ammount to cause any damage. The key word in this report are is might. The BHP might be leaching out and might be getting into the nervous system. They don't know. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-09-06 19:38 |
| #7 I read somewhere that the more anti-capitalist environmentalists were gonna go after some type of plastics (one used in toys, I don't know if it's the same as this) as a way to screw with consumption of plastics. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-09-06 19:13 |
| #6 My understanding is that BPA gets released from most bottles if/when the inner lining is scratched or lightly etched during cleaning. The effect was first noticed when a scientific lab got anomalous results which were painstakingly traced back to a janitor who broke lab protocol by using an ordinary cleaner on some Nalgene equipment instead of the carefully chosen neutral cleaner specified by the lab director. Don't have the link here right now and there is some question about whether it has been replicated by others. FWIW. The concern would be (if the effect is verified) that many people would produce a similar etching on the insides of water and baby bottles in the dishwasher or using a bottle brush etc. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-09-06 17:30 |
| #5 And another thing ... this person writes an article that scares the hell out of mothers everywhere over something that has never been shown to do any harm and probably went out and got into their car a drove ... an activity that is KNOWN to KILL over 100 people PER DAY in the US and injure hundreds more. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-09-06 14:49 |
| #4 This whole thing is a load of crap. Consider this ... exactly how much BPA is used in the manufacture of a bottle? Now how much would "leach" out of the bottle plastic into the contents that it holds in some reasonably time ... like say 10 minutes or so. Now over the course of months of use, how could it continue to deliver a hazardous amount? My guess would be that simply filling it with hot water once and letting it sit for a minute or two when it is new would be enough to eliminate the vast majority of any BPA that might be available to leak into any food in the container. The article NOWHERE states than any chemical was found leaking from the plastic. They fed the chemical directly to animals. They did NOT feed the animals food that had been stored in that plastic. The article does not state that the chemical does anything at all. Instead is says things like: *might* be responsible for impairing many brain functions (but nowhere does it state that it DOES impair any brain function in humans) it *could* be a factor behind Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and depression (but nowhere does it state that it IS a factor behind those things) BPA *might* be leaking into the solid or liquid foods (but nowhere does it say that it IS leaking) chemical *might* be getting into the human system (and nowhere does it say it IS getting into the human system) When you walk outside your door today, you *might* get hit by a meteor. A black hole *could* swallow our entire solar system tomorrow. Raw sewage *could* be leaking into your drinking water. And so this article takes one fact: When you directly feed this chemical to animals, it messes them up. And then from they perform a rectal extraction of a lot of other things that *might* be but nobody has ever shown to be true. Your cell phone MIGHT cause brain tumors. That aspartame in your diet soda also causes brain tumors in animals when they are fed the stuff directly. You MIGHT die in a car accident this week. What a load of horse crap. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-09-06 14:43 |
| #3 TORONTO: Plastic containers may be deadly for your brain. Canadian researchers have found that Bisphenol A (BPA), the chemical used in making plastic containers, might be responsible for impairing many brain functions such as learning and remembering. And exposure to the sun results in deadly skin cancer. Quick, time to become mole people! /sarcasm off |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-09-06 14:38 |
| #2 uh huh..... or not: Snopes 1 Snopes 2 |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-06 13:36 |
| #1 They may be onto something. We poor, dumb red-staters have far lower consumption of (plastic) bottled water than the wealthy, elite blue-staters. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-09-06 13:27 |