But, bisphenol A really affects health?

March 19th, 2015 - By Isabel Sánchez, for Fundación Roger Torné 

The maximum level of exposure to the endocrine disruptor that is considered safe has recently been lowered by the European Food Safety Agency. However, scientists who analyse it insist that we must remain cautious with it, so to dispel doubts about its effects on children's health, we talked with Maribel Casas, CREAL researcher, one of the researchers who are trying to put black on white on this subject. This article is part of our "Pollutants and child health" cases.

Bisphenol A is one of the best-known chemicals that disrupt endocrine. And it is, above all, by its widespread use, especially in the field of alimentation: it is found in plastic bottles, food containers or cans. It seems, or until recently seemed, perfect for modern life in which it is imposed the immediacy and the easy access and availability. There are some potential risks to health: its fame comes precisely from all studies (more than 14,000 researches) that have warned of its potential risks on the health, also in children.

Some recent studies on this subject have been carried out from the INMA project, which is investigating the role of environmental pollutants during pregnancy and early life stage in more than 3,500 mothers and children in seven Spanish regions. In different studies in the region of Sabadell has been concluded, among others, that the gestational exposure to bisphenol A may increase the risk of obesity in children at four years, suffering respiratory infections and wheezing during childhood, and even suffer the Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It has also been seen that younger smokers (also passives) pregnant women, and with low education, have higher concentrations of bisphenol A in urine. The reason? The biggest trend, according the responsible of this research, is that a poorly educated woman carries a less healthy lifestyle.

Read the full article:

http://www.fundrogertorne.org/salud-infancia-medio-ambiente/divulga/inspira-nuevo/2015/03/19/pero-%C2%BFafecta-realmente-a-la-salud-el-bisfenol-a/

Image: Julien Haler / Flickr.