Latest on Chemical BPA

Low levels of BPA raise breast cancer risk in rat offspring.

Feb 16, 2009

From Ralph: this is the very latest on BPA, the chemical found in many plastic water bottles.  Look for “BPA free” on the label or the bottle itself before you buy.

Jenkins, S, N Raghuraman, I Eltoum, M Carpenter, J Russo and C Lamartiniere. 2009. Oral exposure to bisphenol A increases dimethylbenzanthracene- induced mammary cancer in rats. Environmental Health Perspectives doi:10.1289/ehp.11751.

Synopsis by Heather Hamlin and Michael D. Laiosa

For the first time, scientists have shown that low levels of bisphenol A, even below levels considered safe by the EPA, increase breast cancer risk in rats exposed through their mother’s breast milk.

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A first of its kind study shows that low dose exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) during lactation increases the chance of breast cancer in rats.

Early developmental exposures can have long lasting and adverse health effects. This is the first study to show that a mother rat’s exposure to BPA during lactation increases her daughter’s chances of breast tumors.

Rats were used in this study because of the similarity in mammary (breast) gland development with that of humans.

If this study could be extended to humans, it suggests that current safety standards fail to adequately protect the public. Current standards — which are being reevaluated — do not take into account recent findings that pertain to health effects from very low level exposures of BPA and related endocrine disruptors.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a widely-used compound found in polycarbonate plastics and resins that line food and drink containers. Plastic baby bottles, teething toys and cans that contain formula can have BPA.

At least 95 percent of adults — and at least that many children — had detectable levels of BPA in their urine, according to monitoring studies.

BPA is a known endocrine disruptor. The chemical can interfere with processes that are normally controlled by hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone.

Although considered harmless for a very long time, recent research findings challenge this assumption. One sticky point pertains to the amount of BPA necessary to cause harm.

A large number of animal studies consistently find that extremely minute amounts of BPA can adversely affect the reproductive and nervous systems. This is particularly evident if the exposures occur in the very young that are actively developing.

In this study, mother rats were fed BPA so their nursing young would be exposed through their breast milk. The concentrations of BPA used — 25 and 250 micrograms BPA per kilogram of body weight/day — are similar to that of estimated BPA exposure of preschool children.

The lower dose is less than the US Environmental Protection Agency’s “safe” reference dose of 50 micrograms BPA per kilogram/body weight.

As adults, the offspring were exposed to another chemical that spontaneously induces mammary tumors. The authors then evaluated tumor development in breast tissue of the daughters.

The rats that were exposed to BPA through their mother’s breast milk developed more mammary tumors more rapidly than the nonexposed rats.

A Useful Paragraph

Longish, but provocative  It’s on page 84 of a handy book called “Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World” by Brian Walker and David Salt. (Slightly edited by me.)

“Consider the global energy market and how it is dominated by fossil fuels.  For many years scientists and economists everywhere have been talking about the need to move to alternate and renewable forms of energy production and yet we seem locked into our dependence on fossil fuel.  For many it seems irrational [see second quote below], but it’s in keeping with the pattern of growth in the fossil fuel industry in which resources are locked up into doing things in the most efficient way.  But, in so doing, it has lost the capacity to do things in different ways.  Too many institutions and businesses are now dependent on maintaining the status quo of fossil fuel usage.  Innovation for alternatives is either quashed or receives inadequate support.  A consequence of this is that it lacks resilience.  Fossil fuels have a limited life span and at some point a shock will lead to collapse, a major disruption of the industry.  Whether or not this is a sudden, costly, painful change will depend on whether the industry has the ability to transform itself ahead of time.“

And then there’s this…

“It has been said that man is a rational animal.  All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.”

–– Bertrand Russell

Ralph

For the Birds

Prose stylish this isn’t.  Here’s a list of all the birds you can find in Shipetauken Woods (off Carter Road near Kale’s nursery – look for the sign).  Yeah, I know it’s winter, but Valentine’s day is just about here, and I’m feeling feelish,  whaddya gonna do.

One reminder.  This is central New Jersey, and many of these birds come here from the Amazon to have their babies.  Here.  Lawrence Township and the greatest, most important rain forest on the planet.  Biologically linked.  Permanently.  The list:

Canada goose, Mallard, Turkey vulture, Red-tailed hawk, Sharp-shinned hawk, Bobwhite, Ring billed gull, Mourning dove, Northern flicker, Red-bellied woodpecker, Downy woodpecker, Hairy woodpecker,

Eastern wood pewee, Acadian flycatcher, Barn swallow, Blue jay, American crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted titmouse, White-breasted nuthatch, House wren, Carolina wren, Blue-gray gnatcatcher,

Eastern bluebird, American robin, Swainson’s thrush, Wood thrush, Northern mockingbird, European starling, Red-eyed vireo, Ovenbird, Prairie warbler, Black and white warbler, Common yellowthroat,

Northern parula, Black-throated green warbler, Black-throated blue warbler, Yellow warbler, Yellow-rumped warbler, Palm warbler, American redstart, Scartlet tanager, Northern cardinal, Eastern towhee,

White-throated sparrow, Song sparrow, Chipping sparrow, Field sparrow, Swamp sparrow, American tree sparrow, Northern oriole, Red-winged blackbird, Common grackle, Brown-headed cowbird, American goldfinch,

And (ta-da…!)  the Dark-eyed Junco.  That’s 56 species in all.  Go find them.

Ralph

Easy.

I hope everyone living or working in Lawrence Township will take one minute and go the SL website…

http://www.sustainablelawrence.org

…and review the Personal Pledge 5-Pack as an opportunity to contribute to the sustainability of this community.

Go to the site, click on the first link under “Sustainable Everyday” in the left-hand column, review the five pledge options, and show what you’re willing and able to do.

If you’ve already done this, thank you, and i apologize for the repeat message. The step you can now take is to urge friends and neighbors to take a pledge or two on this page. Let’s beef this baby way up!

Think how cool it will be when we have hundreds, even thousands of names on the list of those who’ve pledged! Think of the dent we can make in climate change, right here in our town, in our homes. And you’re likely to find that you are already doing a couple of these things, so that makes pledging even easier.

People worry they’re not doing enough. We’ve purposely selected five things that can have the biggest and most dramatic difference on life right here in Lawrence, so pledge today, ease your mind, and join your neighbors. Do it now. It’s so easy.

Ralph