BPA Linked to Chromosomal Abnormalities

A chemical used in food packaging and other plastics causes miscarriages and birth defects in laboratory mice, geneticists at Case Western Reserve University have found. Bisphenol A, used to manufacture the hard, clear plastic polycarbonate and a sealant to prevent cavities in teeth, mimics the hormone estrogen, according to the researchers, and disrupts chromosomes in mice, even at exposure levels similar to those experienced by humans. Bisphenol A was linked in October 1999 to premature puberty and adolescent weight gain (see

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 11).