Health scares of the year

One scary word: Plastics

The ubiquitous plastics chemical known as Bisphenol A, or BPA, had a very bad year. First, a report in January found that repeated heating and washing of plastics containing BPA could release the chemical into our food and drink. Then, in April, the federal government found that BPA appears to mimic the hormone estrogen, causing the “over-expression” of female sex characteristics in men, women, and children. A later study found that the presence of BPA in the body could double the risks for diabetes and other diseases. Unfortunately, BPA is virtually everywhere. “The vast majority of exposure is through food and drink—from cans and bottles,” said researcher Mike Shelby. “But there could be trace amounts in water and dust. Your cell phone is probably made out of it.”

Pregnancy and caffeine don’t mix

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Busy mothers-to-be have long assumed they could get their daily coffee fix without fretting too much. Not any more. A study this year convincingly linked caffeine during pregnancy with low-birth-weight babies, while the equivalent of two cups of regular coffee was found to double the risk of miscarriage during the first trimester. As a result, researchers are warning that coffee, tea, soda, and even chocolate pose a risk to the health of the growing fetus. For a pregnant woman, says study leader De-Kun Li, “the safe dose is zero.”

Hidden colon cancer

Normally, when doctors see a polyp during a colonoscopy, they simply snip it off. But new research found another type of precancerous growth that is both harder to spot and harder to remove than a regular polyp. These polyps are flatter, so they don’t show up as easily, and they are more likely to turn cancerous. That’s why it’s common for patients to “get an exam and they’re clean, and at the next exam they have cancer,” says Dr. Stephen Hanauer. Doctors are now being advised to conduct more thorough colon exams. “You’re not going to be able to do seven-minute colonoscopies,” he said.

When air pollution is deadly

A Harvard study found that a type of air contaminant called particulate air pollution could lead directly to death. Microscopic soot particles, the study found, can be inhaled into the lungs and absorbed into the bloodstream. Once there, the particles contribute to the formation of blood clots in leg veins that can dislodge and create deadly blockage in the heart, brain, or lungs. The finding explains why people in highly polluted areas are more likely to die of blood clot­–related ailments.

Melamine scare: Not just in China

Low levels of the industrial chemical melamine were found in American-made brands of baby formula, the Food and Drug Administration reported in November. Officials stressed that the melamine contamination, which likely occurred while the formula was being packaged, was not at a high enough level to cause harm. Still, the finding was troubling in light of events in China, where producers of milk were purposely adding the chemical to fool protein-level sensors and circumvent government health standards. Melamine sickened hundreds of thousands of Chinese children and claimed at least six lives.