Harmful chemicals in plastics have been linked to health ailments, prodding experts to push for better government control over potential toxins.
Ottawa banned a chemical called Bisphenol A, known as BPA, from plastic baby bottles and cups in 2010 over concerns it could cause harmful health effects. The US followed suit in 2012, and more than 20 states have issued regulations on BPA.
But its replacement, Bisphenol S or BPS — a chemical within the same family class as BPA — is just as toxic, says Frederick vom Saal, professor emeritus of biological sciences at the University of Missouri.
Producers of plastic products do not have to prove the replacement for a banned chemical is not toxic, says vom Saal. Companies that make plastics tend to replace banned chemicals with others from the same family class. And these sibling chemicals, such as BPA and BPS — which are needed to make plastic flexible and clear — are linked to similar health issues.
Industry leaders and the government are playing “whack-a-mole” with harmful chemicals in plastics by regulating them one at a time, said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, professor in pediatrics and environmental medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Governments that take this approach “are not protecting the public properly,” he said. To really protect the public, “we have to regulate chemicals as a class,” which means to regulate an entire chemical family class, such as all Bisphenols, “and not regulate one by one.”
‘Promiscuous chemical’
Chemicals such as BPA and BPS are labeled endocrine-disruptors because they interfere with hormones in animal and human cell studies, says Barbara Hales, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University.
Hales currently leads a project on endocrine-disrupting chemicals, measuring how much of these chemicals are found in Montrealers’ water, food and breast milk and testing the chemicals’ effect on mice and human cells.
Hales’ research shows high BPS content, as opposed to BPA, in Montreal’s tap water. As BPA is banned, it makes sense that there would be a greater presence of the replacement chemical, says Hales.
In another study, the researchers found BPS causes increased estrogen production in human cells. And BPS has been shown to metabolize 20 times slower than BPA in an animal study, said vom Saal.
Both have been linked to health issues, but “BPS is going to be around a lot longer [in the human body] doing a lot more damage. So it’s actually worse than BPA,” said vom Saal. These harmful chemicals in plastics can enter the body in food, through the skin or by being inhaled.
BPA “is a very promiscuous chemical,” said von Saal. “It alters fat cell development. It influences immune function. It influences brain development.”
People with elevated exposure to these chemicals are more likely to die of a heart attack and to have degenerative brain diseases. Exposure to these chemicals can also impede fetal development, says von Saal.
In a recent study led by Trasande, another chemical found in plastic called Phthalates was linked to thousands of premature births in the US.
“At what point do you look at all these [studies] and say we know enough?” said von Saal. “At some point you reach a level of certainty of harm that should not be ignored. And it is reckless and irresponsible to ignore all this information.”
Trasande agrees. “It’s really hard to walk away from that evidence and throw up your hands and say, ‘there’s nothing wrong’.”
Class ban
Canada was the first country to ban BPA out of a precautionary principle because of evidence showing it could have harmful effects on babies.
But for the most part, harmful chemicals in plastics remain largely unregulated, said Hales.
She hopes projects such as the endocrine-disrupting chemicals study at McGill will show regulators “where to start” by identifying chemicals that could be harmful.
There are hundreds of Bisphenols being used at the moment, said Trasande.
Hales does not think the government would regulate them all at once.
Some plastics can be essential — for example, one-use plastic items in health care — and an outright ban would be difficult.
Rather than ban all Bisphenols, the government would most likely regulate a portion of them, said Hales.
Von Saal disagrees. “They banned BPA in baby bottles. Why isn’t it banned in other kinds of food contact materials that are fed to babies?”
Regulations that would call for companies to show what chemicals they use in plastic products would keep consumers informed, he said.
Banning family classes of chemicals — such as all Bisphenols — would be the best way to deal with harmful chemicals in plastics linked to health problems, said Trasande.
Plastics to glassware
Plastic is everywhere. Avoiding non-essential plastic items — including single use plastics such as plastic bags and cling wrap — helps curb the risk to personal health.
Hales recommends switching from plastic storage containers to glassware. Even if it is too expensive to buy all new food storage containers, von Saal recommends heating food only in glass or regular dishware. Heating food in plastic containers allows chemicals suspected of being toxic to leach out.
Non-essential uses of plastic “can be eliminated without changing functionality,” said Trasande. For example, plastic bags can be replaced with paper bags, even for packaging produce sold at the grocery store.
But BPA lining is found inside canned goods, in cosmetic products and around produce at the grocery store. To curb plastic toxins, more regulations to study which chemicals are toxic are necessary, said Trasande.
“It’s not the responsibility of the public or the scientific community to identify alternatives that are known to have health effects,” said Trasande. “That’s really where you need engineers and… chemistry to step in and develop those materials.”
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