Seeking to rid food of BPA
Anne B. Hulick participated in a study of bisphenon A.
Posted: 21 May 2010
SOUTHINGTON — Participating in a study earlier this year, Anne Hulick sent two cans of vegetable broth to a laboratory for analysis. One was from her kitchen pantry. The other, the same product, came from the local grocery. When results showed both cans contained levels of bisphenol A, she wasn’t surprised.
“You can’t shop your way out of this problem,” said Hulick, a Southington resident who is environmental health coordinator for the Connecticut Nurses’ Association.
“The problem, too, is that it’s not on the label, so we don’t know,” she said. “And with the economy the way it is, more people are relying on canned foods. So it really is a major public health issue.”
Results of the study, released earlier this week, showed that of 50 cans tested from 19 states and one Canadian province, more than 90 percent had detectable levels of bisphenol A, which is often referred to as BPA.
According to the study’s sponsor, the National Work Group for Safe Markets, the exposure is at levels shown to cause health problems in laboratory animals. The organization is a coalition of public health and environmental health groups, and includes the Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Connecticut.
In 2009, Connecticut became the first state to broadly ban the use of bisphenol A in containers for infant formula, baby bottles and in reusable food and beverage containers. The ban goes into effect October 2011.
Advocates hope the new study will lead to reform at the federal level to ultimately remove BPA from all food and beverage containers.
Bisphenol A is a part of epoxy resins, which are used as protective coatings inside cans to maintain food quality. BPA can leach into food from the coating. The FDA considers its use safe, though there are plans to update its assessment. The Grocery Manufacturers Association responded to the study by citing regulatory and scientific affirmations of the safe use of BPA.
“There is no scientific controversy about this, none,” said Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, an epidemiologist who is founder and president of the American Council on Science and Health.
BPA “preserves the food and prevents food-borne diseases,” said Whelan. “So it’s actually protecting our health.”
Whelan said publicity from studies like the recent one cause unnecessary alarm for consumers, and scientists often do not speak up enough to alleviate concerns.
“We feel that these activists are manipulating the fears of parents, who have an understandable desire to protect their kids from harm,” she said.
Another problem, said Whelan, is that there is no known safe alternative for BPA. “If we’re going to get rid of BPA and put in something we don’t know what it’s doing, how are we going to be better off?”
“What I find telling is it’s the consumer who’s going to pay for this, and in a big way,” she said.
Other scientists find cause for concern.
The recent study is more extensive than tests done by the FDA and shows that BPA exposure is being underestimated, said Dr. Sarah Janssen, a reproductive biologist and occupational and environmental specialist at the National Resources Defense Council.
Another significant finding is that BPA levels can vary greatly, even in the same product, Janssen said. While both of the cans Hulick submitted for the study were the same vegetable broth product, there was a difference in the BPA level, for example.
“For the consumer, it means you can’t rely on buying a particular brand, unless it’s a manufacturer who has voluntarily taken it out of their product,” said Janssen.
Janssen said she knew of a couple of manufacturers that had taken BPA out of products, including one that has substituted a pine-based resin, an alternative that minimally raised the price.
“We want to shift the burden of proof, so chemicals have to be shown safe before they can be used,” she said.
Hulick is a registered nurse who has worked at Hartford Hospital and Waterbury Hospital. A Southington resident for the past 15 years, she raised her niece, Meghan Kenny, and intermittently raised two nephews, Brian and Colin Kenny, on her own. She’s had her position at the Connecticut Nurses’ Association for the past year.
Hulick said she’s long been interested in the environment and its impact on health. As a nurse, she said, “we do a great job of taking care of people when they’re sick, but not on the impact of environment on health.”
She went to law school, earning a degree in 2007 from Western New England College. Today, she divides her time as a lawyer with her work with the nursing association.
A vegetarian for the past 17 years, Hulick said she used the vegetable broth product in stews, and probably used it less than once a month. Other products tested in the study included fish, fruits, beans, soups, tomato products and beverages.
While she tries to avoid polycarbonated beverages and canned foods, “you can’t completely avoid chemicals in products,” said Hulick. “That’s why we’re really urging legislation to be passed at the federal level.”
“It’s really become an environmental justice issue,” she said.
“It’s not OK for food companies and food packaging companies to perform experiments on the American people,” said Sarah Uhl, coordinator of the Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Connecticut. “They should have to demonstrate that these chemicals are safe.”
The study, called No Silver Lining, is available online, at http://contaminatedwithoutconsent.org/nosilverlining.php.
Submitted by Jeff Kurz on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 18:42
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