Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - BPA present in 91 per cent of Canadians: report

troutman · 08-16-2010, 04:25 PM

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=209

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in the manufacture of hard plastics which can be found in a wide range of products, including baby bottles, plastic utensiles, and plastic food containers. It has been the focus of some controversy over its safety, and the resulting debate reveals much about how the current system deals with such issues.

The concern is that BPA can leech from plastic containers into the food or liquid it contains, and when consumed can have negative health effects. The debate is over how to interpret existing evidence about BPA safety, which gives conflicting results. Essentially it is a debate about how to weight different kinds of evidence, and where safety thresholds should be.

Given the existing evidence I suspect that there are real but small effects from BPA at current human exposure. These effects may be too small to worry about, but (and here is where most agree) more research is necessary.

The question that cannot be answered just with scientific evidence is where we should draw the line in terms of guaranteeing safety. There is no such thing as absolute safety or zero risk. Everything entails some risk. Everything we eat, drink, wear, drive, touch, and use comes with some finite risk. Most reasonable people would agree that we should avoid excessive risks and not worry about trivial risks – but much of the world entails the gray zone in between these extremes.

Also – eliminating something like BPA is not without risk either. What will take its place, and is that safe? BPA is used because it is cost effective and there are advantages to the durable plastic that is used in many products. What will we lose if we give up this technology?

08-16-2010, 04:25 PM	#13
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=209 Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in the manufacture of hard plastics which can be found in a wide range of products, including baby bottles, plastic utensiles, and plastic food containers. It has been the focus of some controversy over its safety, and the resulting debate reveals much about how the current system deals with such issues. The concern is that BPA can leech from plastic containers into the food or liquid it contains, and when consumed can have negative health effects. The debate is over how to interpret existing evidence about BPA safety, which gives conflicting results. Essentially it is a debate about how to weight different kinds of evidence, and where safety thresholds should be. Given the existing evidence I suspect that there are real but small effects from BPA at current human exposure. These effects may be too small to worry about, but (and here is where most agree) more research is necessary. The question that cannot be answered just with scientific evidence is where we should draw the line in terms of guaranteeing safety. There is no such thing as absolute safety or zero risk. Everything entails some risk. Everything we eat, drink, wear, drive, touch, and use comes with some finite risk. Most reasonable people would agree that we should avoid excessive risks and not worry about trivial risks – but much of the world entails the gray zone in between these extremes. Also – eliminating something like BPA is not without risk either. What will take its place, and is that safe? BPA is used because it is cost effective and there are advantages to the durable plastic that is used in many products. What will we lose if we give up this technology?