Definition of the Term and Background
BPA (Bisphenol A) a chemical compound frequently used in the production of plastic products. The compound is structurally very similar to estrogen and can disrupt biochemical pathways involving this hormone, thus giving BPA the classification of endocrine disruptor. Disruption of estrogenic pathways can lead to numerous health consequences including: breast and prostate cancer, obesity, neurobehavioral problems, and reproductive abnormalities (Vogel 2009).
BPA was first synthesized in 1891 by the Russian chemist Aleksandr P. Dianin, however, no major applications for the compound would be found until after World War I. The compound is produced by condensing acetone and phenol groups with an acid catalyst. In the 1930s Edward Charles Dodds of the University of London discovered the similarity of BPA to estrogen. However, BPA was not similar enough to be used in a pharmaceutical manner and was set aside. A few years after Dodds’ research BPA would be found useful in the production of epoxy resins by chemists in Switzerland and the United States. BPA is combined with a compound known as phosgene to produce polycarbonate, a clear, hard resin that many plastic products are made from (Rogers 2014). The process was commercialized in the early 1950s. These resins were used in many industrial applications, such as protective coatings on metal parts to increase longevity of the parts, linings of food cans to prevent the corrosion of the interior of the cans and leeching of metals into the foods, plastic packaging, and as adhesives such as epoxy. The ability to polymerize (combine into long chains) BPA was discovered in 1957 by scientists at Bayer and General Electric. This allowed the creation of polycarbonate plastics that were strong enough to replace metal parts in certain applications and clear enough to be substituted for glass in some types of products, helping to make the production of many products cheaper, thus making them more affordable and widely available to the general public. By the late 1970s productin of BPA in the United States would reach half a billion pounds (Vogel 2009).
Perspectives and Controversy
The controversy surrounding BPA stems from its effect as an endocrine disruptor and the health effects surrounding the impacts those disruptions can have on both human and animal bodies. Although BPA is not an ingredient in food or beverages, “Because BPA migrates from epoxy resins and polycarbonates used in food packaging and production, the FDA considered the chemical to be an indirect food additive” (Vogel 2009 para. 13). This migration from packaging to food causes the chemical to be taken into the body. In addition to being used in food packaging, BPA is also used in thermal paper used for printing receipts (Pivnenko 2015). The amount of safe exposure and effects of said exposure are heated topics of debate. As previously mentioned, BPA can mimic estrogens in the body.
Figure 1. The blue highlighted areas on the molecules show structural similarities between BPA and estradiol, a type of estrogen (Center for Health, Environment & Justice 2015).
Figure 1 shows the structural similarities in BPA and estradiol, a type of estrogen. The blue highlighted areas on the molecular diagrams show the areas of the molecules that are analogous to each other. This is a significant similarity because it is this part of the molecule that binds to estrogen receptors in the body.
This data from a Canadian health survey shows significantly higher BPA concentration in the urine of obese individuals compared to that of overweight and normal weight individuals (Government of Canada 2015). In their 2014 study, Priyadarshini and Evans-Molina investigated the link between BPA, obesity, and diabetes. They found that there is a general trend of positive association between concentration of BPA in urine, obesity, and diabetes. In a similar study done in the U.S. by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2003-2004 BPA was found in the 93% of urine samples that the study collected from people older than six (Bisphenol A (BPA) 2017). However, they also stated that “the question of whether small doses of BPA impact the development of obesity and diabetes in children and adults is the subject of active research, intense scrutiny, and a large amount of controversy and uncertainty” (para. 31). BPA is also a subject of environmental concern because of its potential to disturb ecosystems, particularly aquatic environments (Tsai 2007). The BPA leaches into the ecosystem from plastic waste as it breaks down, either through On the other side of the issue, proponents of BPA argue that the amount that humans are exposed to is too small to be of concern and any we are exposed to is easily broken down by the body. The European Food Safety Authority stated that, based upon its own review of studies published about the health effects of BPA, it had concluded that, indeed, small amounts of BPA transfer from packaging into food and beverages, but the amounts are too small to be considered harmful. “Independent experts have worked out how much BPA we can consume every day over a lifetime without coming to any harm, and the amount people actually absorb from all food and drink is significantly below this level” (Food Standards Agency 2011). This is taken with a grain of salt, however, as according to an expert panel assembled in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in (2006) there is still no good way to estimate how much BPA humans intake daily as the known sources of exposure are insufficient in explaining the amounts of BPA found in humans (Saal 2007).
Politics of Health
The controversy surrounding BPA is what ties it to politics of health. Although it would seem to be indirect, BPA conjures thoughts of structural violence against those who cannot afford to buy foods not packaged in containers containing BPA. People of lower socioeconomic status are more affected by this issue because they will not be able to afford products that are BPA free or buy fresh, non-canned foods such as fresh meats and produce and therefore forced to be exposed to higher quantities of BPA. Barry Popkin, a nutritionist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill states in a piece on National Public Radio that we have an enormous amount of infrastructure designed to produce these packaged foods in factories for little money and in high quantities. There are far more steps involved in getting fresh foods into supermarkets as resources have to be put in to grow the food and then transport it from the farm to the store while keeping it fresh. “We didn’t really create the same infrastructure for fruits and vegetables that we created for animal foods, for oils, sugars and other things. The difference is such a huge magnitude of long-term investment that it would take an awful lot to make fruits and vegetables cheap like they should be” (“Why Processed Food Is Cheaper Than Healthier Options.” 2013). The subject of scientific knowledge production also comes into play as scientists produce studies examining the effects of BPA and we as a society of consumers scrutinize their findings. If these studies are produced by organizations or individuals with a clear bias either for or against BPA they could design studies that will produce results that lean in favor of that bias. While that group or individual may be trying to do what is in the best interest of the public, what is needed is the true effects of BPA in our everyday lives and not false information that serves to meet a person or groups beliefs on the subject. According to a Scientific American article by Jenna Bilbrey, they’re not. “Nearly 81 percent of Americans have detectable levels of BPS, a BPA alternative, in their urine. And once it enters the body it can affect cells in ways that parallel BPA” (para. 3).
Works Cited
Agency, Food Standards. “Bisphenol-A (BPA).” Food Standards Agency – Bisphenol-A (BPA), European Food Safety Authority, 1 Aug. 2011, web.archive.org/web/20110822092322/http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/chemsafe/packagingbranch/foodcontactmaterialsbpa/.
Bilbrey, Jenna. “BPA-Free Plastic Containers May Be Just as Hazardous.” Scientific American, 11 Aug. 2014, www.scientificamerican.com/article/bpa-free-plastic-containers-may-be-just-as-hazardous/.
“Bisphenol A (BPA).” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 24 May 2017, www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/sya-bpa/index.cfm.
Canada, Government of Canada Statistics. “Bisphenol A concentrations in Canadians, 2012 and 2013.” Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, 27 Nov. 2015, www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-625-x/2015001/article/14208-eng.htm.
Center for Health, Environment & Justice: Building strong, healthy, and safe communities.” Center for Health, Environment, & Justice, 10 Feb. 2015, archive.chej.org/2015/02/when-%E2%80%98safer%E2%80%99-isn%E2%80%99t-safe-the-complicated-search-for-chemical-alternatives/.
Mirmira, Priyadarshini, and Carmella Evans-Molina. “Bisphenol A, Obesity, and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Genuine Concern or Unnecessary Preoccupation?” Translational research: the journal of laboratory and clinical medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, July 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4058392/.
Pivnenko, K., et al. “Bisphenol A and its structural analogues in household waste paper.” Waste Management, Pergamon, 17 July 2015, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X15300349.
Rogers, Kara. “Bisphenol A.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 1 Sept. 2014, www.britannica.com/science/bisphenol-A.
Saal, Frederick S. vom, et al. “Chapel Hill bisphenol A expert panel consensus statement: Integration of mechanisms, effects in animals and potential to impact human health at current levels of exposure.” Reproductive toxicology (Elmsford, N.Y.), U.S. National Library of Medicine, 27 July 2007, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2967230/
TSAI, WEN-TIEN. “Human Health Risk on Environmental Exposure to Bisphenol-A: A Review.” Taylor & Francis Online, Journal of Environmental Science and Health, 6 Feb. 2007, www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10590500600936482.
Vogel, Sarah A. “The Politics of Plastics: The Making and Unmaking of Bisphenol A ‘Safety.’” American Journal of Public Health 99. Suppl 3 (2009): S559–S566. PMC. Web. 16 Feb. 2018.
“Why Processed Food Is Cheaper Than Healthier Options.” NPR, NPR, 1 Mar. 2013, www.npr.org/2013/03/01/173217143/why-process-food-is-cheaper-than-healthier-options.
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