The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made decisions about the safety of bisphenol A (BPA) based on incomplete data, according to information presented during the Endocrine Society's virtual conference, held October 23, 2018.
BPA is an endocrine-disrupting industrial chemical used in a wide range of consumer products, including plastic bottles, metal cans, toys, and medical equipment. Present in the bodies of over 96% of Americans, the BPA compound mimics estrogen within the body by binding to estrogen receptors. As of 2014, roughly 100 epidemiologic studies have shown that BPA exposure is linked to negative health effects, including polycystic ovary syndrome, behavioral problems in children, and abnormal liver function.
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According to the Endocrine Society, these core study results of CLARITY-BPA were “dismissed by the FDA because [either] they were not observed at high doses, or because they were only observed in one group.” There is “an expectation that with increasing dose, there should be an increase in an effect,” explained Dr Vandenberg. Though this model is applicable to toxins, endocrine-disrupting chemicals like BPA do not show linear relationships between dose and effect (ie, at a lower dose, BPA acts more like estrogen, whereas at a higher dose it is suppressed).
“When you think about reproducibility in the broad sense — you look at the effects the FDA found at low-dose, you look at the effects the CLARITY investigators found at low-dose, and you go back and look at the existing literature — you see a very clear picture of BPA-produced effects on brain and behavior, female reproductive system, and cardiovascular system,” added the researchers.
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CLARITY‐BPA academic laboratory studies identify consistent low‐dose Bisphenol A effects on multiple organ systems
Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2018 Sep 12. doi: 10.1111/bcpt.13125.
Note: These were animal studies on rats. But rats are mammals which serve as good models for human physiology.
CONCLUSIONS
Many datasets within the CLARITY‐BPA study have documented effects of BPA in the low‐dose range, often at the lowest dose provided, that is 2.5 μg/kg BW/d and frequently in the stop dose cohorts, specifically suggesting heightened sensitivity to developmental exposures. For carcinoma risk, heightened mammary cancer incidence and prostate cancer multiplicity were uniquely seen in the cohort developmentally exposed to 2.5 μg/kg BW/d, which is cause for great concern. These low‐dose effects were observed not only in the Academic studies as highlighted herein, but in the Core study itself; significant effects on mammary cancer, prostatic inflammation, kidney cysts and increased body‐weight within the Core study are especially notable. It is also noteworthy that many of these CLARITY outcome have been observed across multiple previous studies, including similar low‐dose effects on neurobehaviours that have been observed both in CLARITY and in the Danish study, effects on sexually dimorphic brain regions that have been observed in CLARITY and across numerous prior academic studies, and enhanced prostatic carcinogenic susceptibility observed in CLARITY and previous academic laboratories.
Take home lesson: Don’t eat packaged or canned foods. Eat fresh. Off the tree or the bush, from the sea or the farm. Buy foods and drinks in Glass containers, not plastics.