Listen to the podcast.

BPA and Chromosomal Damage in Mice

It’s in your car, the DVDs you watch, the dental sealants on your kids’ teeth, and even in some plastic food containers and cans in your family’s pantry.

Unfortunately, it may also make its way into your womb during pregnancy, and from there into the womb of your still-developing daughter, where it may damage her still-developing eggs. That’s the concern scientists have about BPA (bisphenol A), a chemical compound used in everyday products that has now been shown to cause chromosomal damage in mice and their female offspring.

Studies thus far have focused on the impacts of exposure to BPA on laboratory mice. But those impacts have been sufficiently damaging to raise concerns about how BPA may be affecting humans.

Studies show pregnant mice exposed to BPA will give birth to babies with so much chromosomal damage they may not be able to give birth to viable pups. In other words, when grandma mouse gets exposed to low-levels of BPA, it threatens her chances for having grandpups.

BPA is one of a class of chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, because they mimic estrogen in the body at very low doses (much the way birth control pills work). The problem is, when people are exposed to these chemicals inadvertently – for example when using products such as baby bottles, canned foods or electronics that contain them – nobody really knows what happens to the human body. Nor is anybody controlling the dose. Exposure levels could vary from day to day, and are likely to be multiple, given how ubiquitous BPA has become.

While scientists continue to research the impact of BPA, women might do well to avoid it as much as possible – at least during pregnancy.

For more information about this story, read the article in USA Today.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org