BPA and Health: New Research Focuses on Routes of Exposure
09:00 am US Eastern Time
Slides & Resources
Speaker presentation slides:
Dr. vom Saal: Manufactured Controversy Regarding Sources of Exposure to BPA and MEasurement of BPA in Human Serum
Additional resources of interest:
NPR Science Friday: Hand Sanitizer May Increase BPA Absorption
Paper: Bisphenol A and Human Health: A review of the Literature
The health impacts of exposure to BPA, an endocrine disrupting environmental contaminant, continue to be much discussed in the environmental health field, as well as amongst consumers concerned about safer choices for themselves and their families. Additionally, the means by which people are exposed to contaminants such as BPA also continue to be researched. A new study in PLOS One, authored by endocrinologist Frederick vom Saal, reports that touching thermal receipt paper after using hand sanitizer can increase the amount of BPA transferred from thermal paper to hands and then absorbed by the skin 100-fold. This elevated level of exposure to BPA has concerning implications for people’s health, as BPA is associated with a wide-range of developmental abnormalities as well as other diseases in adults.
A second review by Dr. vom Saal (Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology) discusses approaches being used by regulatory agencies to claim that levels of unconjugated (bioactive) serum BPA, as reported in dozens of human biomonitoring studies, can be ignored. Data from these studies suggest that exposures to BPA must be occurring from multiple sources and that these exposures must be factored into risk assessments.
Featured Speaker
Dr. Frederick vom Saal is a professor of reproductive biology in the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri - Columbia. He has published more than 140 articles concerning the effects of exposure during fetal life to natural hormones, and both man made and naturally occurring endocrine disrupting chemicals
This half-hour teleconference call is one in a monthly series sponsored by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s EDC Strategies Group. The CHE EDC Strategies Group is chaired by Carol Kwiatkowski (TEDX), Sharyle Patton (Commonweal), and Genon Jensen (HEAL).
