Nearly all people in industrialized countries are exposed to bisphenol A (BPA); it is a chemical used to make hard clear plastic called polycarbonate and it remains one of the biggest food safety controversies to date.  It is found widely in our food system and has been for decades.  It is used in baby bottles and sport bottles and in the linings of beverage and food metal canned goods. BPA leaches from these food containers and it has lead to widespread human exposure; in 2005 the CDC reported 95% of people in the US test positive for it now; the concern is mounting for its potential effect on the development and behavioral effects on children as the chemical mimics the hormone estrogen.  Although studies sometimes conflict, there are findings linking the chemical to possible effects on developmental problems in fetuses, infants and children.

 A study released this past October in the Journal of Pediatrics links BPA exposure during pregnancy to worse behavioral issues in children who had the highest levels of BPA exposure as a fetus. The link between higher levels and behavioral issues were more pronounced in girls than in boys.  As concerns for BPA mount, countries such as Canada have banned BPA from baby bottles; The European Union issued a directive last year as well to all European countries to ban BPA from plastic infant feeding bottles by March of this year. Removing or minimizing BPA in our food products is a voluntary measure in this country as this point.  The Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit last year against the US FDA for its failure to act on a petition to ban BPA in food containers and other materials likely to come into contact with food. The National Toxicology Program (part of the National Institute of Health) completed a review in 2008 and concluded that there is indeed concern for effects on the brain, behavior and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures to bisphenol A.  Given the findings, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is providing 30 million to study BPA.  Until then, the FDA does support the voluntary steps that the food industry has done to start removing BPA in baby bottles and infant feeding cups.  It you choose to take a more cautious strategy while more studies are being conducted, you can consider alternatives such as plastics that are labeled BPA-free, not heating in plastic and using glass containers.  Keep in mind that heat and contact with acidic foods and beverages such as soda and fruit increases the amount that BPA leaches into food.  Thus canned products and heating foods in plastic or repeated washing of these plastics may also increases your exposure.  Choosing fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables and searching out companies who have eliminated BPA in their products can help minimize your exposure until more research is done or changes are made.