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Chemicals having estrogenic activity (EA) reportedly cause many adverse health effects, especially at low (pM-nM) doses in fetal and juvenile
mammals.
The objectives of the reserch was to determine whether commercially available plastic resins and products, including baby bottles and other products advertised as BPA-free, release chemicals having estrogenic
activity.
Researchers used a very sensitive, accurate, repeatable, roboticized MCF-7 cell proliferation assay to quantify the estrogenic activity of chemicals leached into saline or ethanol extracts of many types of commercially available plastic materials, some exposed to common-use stresses (microwaving, UV radiation, and/or
autoclaving).
Almost all commercially available plastic products sampled, independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source, leached chemicals having reliably-detectable estrogenic activity, including those advertised as BPA-free.
In some cases, BPA-free products released chemicals having more estrogenic activity than BPA-containing
products.
Conclusions
Many plastic products are mischaracterized as being estrogenic activity-free if extracted with only one solvent and not exposed to common-use stresses.
However, we can identify existing, or have developed, monomers, additives or processing agents that have no detectable estrogenic activity and similar costs.
Hence, data suggest that estrogenic activity-free plastic products exposed to common-use stresses and extracted by saline and ethanol solvents could be cost-effectively made on a commercial scale, and thereby eliminate a potential health risk posed by most currently-available plastic products that leach chemicals having estrogenic activity into food
products.
Authors
Yang CZ, Yaniger SI, Jordan VC, Klein DJ, Bittner GD 2011. Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved. Environ Health Perspect :-.
doi:10.1289/ehp.1003220
Source
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS)
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