Plastics create a sterile environment

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  May, 2006  by Alan R. Gaby

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The mean serum concentration of bisphenol A (BPA) was significantly higher in 45 Japanese women (mean age, 32 years) with a history of three or more consecutive first-trimester miscarriages than in 32 age-matched healthy women with no history of live birth, infertility, or miscarriage (2.59 vs. 0.77 ng/ml; p = 0.024). The mean BPA concentration was not significantly higher in recurrent-miscarriage patients who subsequently miscarried again than in those who subsequently had a successful pregnancy (4.39 vs. 1.22 ng/ml).

Comment: BPA is an endocrine disrupter with estrogenic activity. It is used as the monomer for the production of polycarbonate plastic products, which are used in the packaging, storing, and preparation of numerous foods and beverages, including water jugs, bottled beverages, baby food, and juice containers. BPA leaches out of such products at a rate that increases with repeated use. Food stored in cans that are lacquer-coated with a plastic lining may contain substantial amounts of BPA (4-23 mcg). Some vegetables (e.g., peas, artichokes, green beans, mixed vegetables, corn, and mushrooms) preserved in lacquer-coated cans, as well as the liquid in the cans, were found to have estrogenic activity, which was apparently due entirely to the presence of BPA. The results of the present study indicate that exposure to BPA is associated with recurrent miscarriage.

Sugiura-Ogasawara M, et al. Exposure to bisphenol A is associated with recurrent miscarriage. Hum Reprod. 2005;20:2325-2329.

COPYRIGHT 2006 The Townsend Letter Group
COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group