6 • The Southwest Portland Post
FEATURES
June 2018
Dear EarthTalk: Why on earth would
cans and other food storage containers
contain toxic BPA that can make us
sick? Is there any way to avoid it?
– Melinda Billings, Hixson, TN
If you like the occasional can of tomato
soup or diced pears, chances are you’re
walking around with trace amounts of
bisphenol A in your bloodstream.
According to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 90 per-
cent of us are walking around with trace
amounts of this toxic synthetic chemical
in our bloodstreams.
Bisphenol A is commonly used as a
constituent component in the epoxy resins
lining the inside of cans, boxes and other
food storage containers to prevent corro-
sion and breakages.
One of a class of so-called “hormone
disrupting” or “endocrine mimicking”
chemicals, Bisphenol A fools the body
into thinking it’s the naturally occurring
hormone estrogen.
The result can be negative effects on
brain development, metabolism and the
reproductive system. Bisphenol A expo-
sure has also been linked to cancer, heart
disease and other serious health disorders.
A good old can of soup might not be as good for you as you would expect, given the
toxic chemicals in the lining of the can itself. (Photo by Matthew Hurst, FlickrCC)
“Evidence suggests the developing fe-
tus and young child are most at risk, but
adolescents also appear uniquely vulner-
able,” reports the Environmental Working
Group, a leading non-profit research and
advocacy group.
Of course, the harm isn’t limited to
children and teens; adults can suffer the
ill effects of a lifetime of bio-accumulated
Bisphenol A coursing through their veins
as well.
According to the Environmental
Working Group, we can cut down
on the amount of Bisphenol A we
ingest by steering clear of canned and
processed foods and replacing them
with fresh, frozen and dried options.
Get your tomato soup from the hot
prepared foods section of your local
natural foods market or, better yet,
make it yourself from scratch from
organic ingredients. And instead of
buying diced pears in a can, buy a
real pear and dice it up yourself.
“For those who cannot avoid foods
in BPA-lined cans, rinsing the food
in water may help lower the level of
BPA in the food,” reports the Envi-
ronmental Working Group, adding
that rinsing cuts back on other un-
healthy additives—such as sodium
on beans or sweet syrup on fruit—as
well.
The group also warns never to heat
up food directly in a can: “Transfer
it to a stainless-steel pot or pan for
stovetop cooking, or microwave in
glass – not plastic.”
If you’re not sure whether your
favorite foods are at risk of contain-
ing Bisphenol A, you can search the
group’s Food Scores database to find
out, and also to look for safer alter-
natives that don’t contain hormone
disruptors.
The U.S. Food and Drug Adminis-
tration banned Bisphenol A in baby
bottles, sippy cups and infant for-
mula packaging, but the vast majority
of us are still at risk.
Environmental and health advo-
cates are calling on the agency to
ban Bisphenol A outright from any
packaging materials that come into
contact with foods, drinks or water,
but so far officials don’t seem inclined
to take the now ubiquitous chemical
off the market completely.
In 2014 and again in 2016, Demo-
crats in Congress floated legislation
that would have banned Bisphenol A
and other potentially dangerous food
additives in all food storage contain-
ers, but neither bill ever made it out
of committee.
Without any help from the govern-
ment, then, it’s up to us to wean our-
selves off of Bisphenol A by making
smart choices about what we buy and
what we eat.
Contacts: U.S. Center for Disease
Control, Bisphenol A Fact Sheet. En-
vironmental Working Group, Food
Scores.
EarthTalk® is a syndicated column
produced by Roddy Scheer and Doug
Moss and is a registered trademark of
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