Health Tips: Hereditary Cancer
Sutter Women's Services

The Hidden Danger in Plastic Containers
This heath tip is brought to you by Sutter Women’s Services.

Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical in hard plastics and the lining of food and beverage cans has received a lot of attention in the news in the past year. Research that has suggested the chemical leads to physiological changes in people when they ingest BPA that has leached from plastics into their food.

BPA mimics the hormone estrogen and may disrupt the body's endocrine system. Public health advocates say it poses a particular danger to fetuses, infants, and children because BPA can interfere with cell function at a point when their bodies are still developing.

Studies have shown that people exposed to high levels of BPA have a greater risk of developing uterine fibroids, breast cancer, decreased sperm counts, diabetes, and heart disease.

BPA is commonly found in reusable food and drink containers, the lining of canned foods and drinks containers, digital media products such as CDs and DVDs, and many other products.

Easy was to reducing your intake of BPA.

• Avoid heating foods and liquids in containers that contain the compound. The amount of BPA that leaches out may depend more on the temperature of the liquid, food, or container itself than on the age of the plastic bottle or dish.
• Buy your tomato sauce in glass jars. Canned tomato sauce is likely to have higher levels of BPA because the high acidity of the tomatoes causes more of the chemical to leach from the lining of the can. Think beyond plain tomato sauce to any canned pasta—like ravioli and those fun-looking kids' meals.
• Consume frozen or fresh fruits and vegetables instead of canned. In addition to their BPA-free benefit, fresh and frozen produce usually have more nutrients, which often get lost in the process of canning.
• Purchase beverages in plastic or glass bottles. Canned soda and juice often contain some BPA. You don't need to worry, though, about disposable plastic water bottles. Most don't contain bisphenol A, and those that do are usually marked on the bottom with a number 7 recycling code.