The Body Accumulates 44 Times More Bisphenol Than We Thought

As Dr. Miquel Porta says, we all urinate bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic additive with hormonal effects. This is bad, but now we have learned that an amount accumulates in our body that can multiply by 44 what was estimated, according to the study published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Dozens of scientific studies define BPA as an endocrine disruptor that favors problems in the development of children, metabolic, behavioral and fertility disorders, and an even higher risk of cancer. This substance can be found in a wide range of plastics, including food and beverage containers, tin cans, and cash receipts.

Health authorities have been underestimating exposure to bisphenol

The discovery made by researchers at several US universities is very important because it debunks all toxicological assessments of the exposure levels on which the authorization of BPA is based.

As Patricia Hunt, author of the article, points out: “This study raises serious questions about whether we have been rigorous enough about the safety of this product. The conclusions reached by federal agencies on how to regulate BPA may have been based on in inaccurate measurements. “

Human exposure to the chemical was considered very low by the health authorities of the United States or the European Union and therefore safe. They arrived at this assumption because the scientists measured bisphenol metabolites – derived substances that appear as bisphenol passes through the body – using an enzymatic solution that was mixed with urine samples.

Instead, the authors of the latest study invented a direct method, without the intervention of the enzyme solution, to accurately quantify how much bisphenol is actually found in urine. And the results were very different.

You may be making the same mistake with other endocrine disruptors

The researchers used this new method to measure bisphenol in 29 samples of pregnant women, 5 non-pregnant women and 5 men, they also measured them with the old method, and compared both results with the mean recorded in the National Health Examination Survey and Nutrition (NHANES). The conclusion is that in the samples of the pregnant women analyzed by direct method there were 44 times more bisphenol than in the average of the NHANES. The authors state that “human exposure to BPA is much higher than we had assumed.”

The study authors hope that many other scientists and laboratories will evaluate and replicate the results. Meanwhile they are already measuring other substances, because they fear the same thing will happen. These substances are other known endocrine disruptors such as parabens, benzophenones, phthalates or triclosan found in cosmetic and personal hygiene products.

Reference:

• Roy Gerona et al. BPA: have flawed analytical techniques compromised risk assessments? The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.