BPA Levels Rising in Expectant Moms?

No BPA With My Milk Thank You

Have you heard all the fuss about BPA?

BPA is bisphenol A, a chemical that acts similarly to estrogen. The Canadian government has already banned it's presence in baby bottles and as of Wednesday has added it to the list of toxic substances. Which is a pretty strong step to take, but is sending a strong enough message about the potential dangers of BPA?

The chemical is back in the news due to a new study that has found some surprising new sources of BPA and it's concentration in expectant women. According to the study; "Pregnant women who eat canned vegetables or work as cashiers show the highest levels of bisphenol A, the estrogen-mimicking chemical, according to a new study.

Exposure to cigarettes or second-hand smoke was also associated with a higher concentration of the hormone-disrupting chemical, said lead author Joe Braun, research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health...The chemical, used in making polycarbonate plastic, is found in hundreds of household items. It’s also used in tin can linings and on many cash register receipts. The Canadian Health Measures Survey found BPA in 91 per cent of Canadians"

"Researchers were surprised to find that women who smoked or were exposed to second-hand smoke had about 20 per cent more BPA in their urine than those who didn’t experience tobacco smoke. 'We dug a bit and found a U.S. patent from the 1980s for a process to make cigarette filters with BPA,' said Braun. 'Some of the filters were up to 25 per cent of their weight in BPA'."

It isn't yet known how much of the chemical can pass from the mother to the fetus/child but it is implicated in "neurodevelopmental changes that affect behaviour and the ability to learn, changes in growth that could lead to increased fat accumulation, and possible links to cancer...Mothers who showed higher levels of BPA at 16 weeks of gestation had daughters with more externalizing behaviours such as aggression and hyperactivity, usually associated more with boys."

So, even though BPA is kept out of the baby's bottle, it can still enter their system through some of the other common household items in which it is still allowed. What can we, as parents, do to protect our children and especially our unborn children from being exposed to this? Is the answer, going plastic free? Going back to all glass, wood and metal packaging? Pressuring the government to insist on BPA labels for everything?

How concerned are you about the level of BPA's currently in your system if you are an expectant or new mother?

What do you plan to do about it? Just some questions to chew on for the weekend.

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