What is Bisphenol-A (BPA)?

Q1: What is BPA (Bisphenol-A)?

Bisphenol A, commonly abbreviated as BPA, is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It is a difunctional building block of several important plastics and plastic additives. With an annual production of 2–3 million metric tonnes, it is an important monomer in the production of polycarbonate.

Suspected of being hazardous to humans since the 1930s, concerns about the use of bisphenol A in consumer products were regularly reported in the news media in 2008 after several governments issued reports questioning its safety, and some retailers removed products made of it from their shelves . From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Read More : Star Paper update on BPA in Penang
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/12/nation/20090312140043&sec=nation

Q2: How does BPA get in the body?

The primary source of exposure to BPA for most people is through the diet. BPA can migrate into food from food and beverage containers with internal epoxy resin coatings and from consumer products such as polycarbonate tableware, food containers, water bottles, and baby milk bottles

Q3: How does BPA leach into our food and drink?

Heating our polycarbonate plastic tablewares or pouring hot liquids into them, the presence of acidic or basic foods and beverages and repeated washing have all been shown to increase the rate of BPA leaching from these tablewares into our food and drink.

Q4: What are the health effects of BPA?

Recent studies have linked BPA to the following health effects:

Prostate & breast cancer
Obesity
Hyperactivity
Altered Immune System
Diabetes
Miscarriage

Q5 : What is NTP?

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is an interagency program of the Department of Health and Human Services established in 1978. The program was created as a cooperative effort to coordinate toxicology testing programs within the federal government, strengthen the science base in toxicology, develop and validate improved testing methods, and provide information about potentially toxic chemicals to health, regulatory, and research agencies, scientific and medical communities, and the public. The NTP is headquartered at the NIEHS.

Q6 : Why is BPA of interest to the NTP?

Bisphenol A was selected for evaluation by the NTP because of the following factors:

Widespread human exposure from use and occurrence in the environment
Growing public concern
Amount of BPA produced
Extensive database of animal studies on reproductive and developmental effects

BPA is a cancer-causing industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic, epoxy resins and other products. It was found to leach out from many food and beverage containers including those used by our babies and children.