This week the scientific community found more evidence to suggest that we are being exposed to harmful chemicals every day and it is not something that we have a choice over, or are even aware of. The study looked into the effects of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) on human health – the chemical is found in plastics most commonly used for food and drink packaging and to which almost all of us in the western world are exposed to on a daily basis.
The study brought together research teams from prominent American and British universities and the Scottish scientist and public health expert, Dr Iain Lang who took part in the research concludes tentatively that there is a real chance that BPA is linked to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk
The team took a U.S government health survey from 2003-04 which gave information on urine samples given by 1,455 American adults. They found that over 90% of the group had been exposed to BPA, however no one had over the recommended amount detected in their urine. Other results including the frequency of heart attacks, chest pains and diabetes were also analysed to find a correlation between the two and it was found that more than twice as many heart attacks occurred in the group with the highest BPA than the group with the lowest.
Dr Lisa Schwartz of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice said that this does not define a clear link between BPA levels and disease: "Measuring who has disease and high BPA levels at a single point in time cannot tell you which comes first."
Much greater consumer awareness is essential
However, Iain Lang hopes that these findings will be taken seriously by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S., who have to date ruled out the seriousness of exposure to BPA. Although all parties agree that further testing is mandatory before any definitive conclusinos can be made, Lang believes that this is a step in the right direction.
"This is the first large scale study done on a human population... However, one of the problems at the moment is that there's no way of knowing what's in a piece of packaging or a plastic bottle, so maybe it will be a step that the industry takes to improve the labelling to give more information to consumers about what's in there."