Study finds BPA-free plastics could still be dangerous
Plastics with bisphenol A (BPA) have been proven to cause health risks, but new research from the University of California, Davis suggests that even BPA-free plastics could be harmful to your health.
The findings, which will be published in the journal Environmental Health, suggest that BPA-free plastics, including Polystyrene, the resin used in Styrofoam, release estrogenic chemicals. The study looked at the resins from 14 BPA-free plastics, four of which released chemicals that mimic estrogen.
The study "suggests that sometimes the resins themselves are part of the problem," Mother Jones reports. The plastic samples were home to "estrogen seepage" after they were exposed to steam or ultraviolet rays. One of the Tritan resin's components, triphenyl phosphate (TPP), was found to be estrogenic.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Manufacturers don't tell the public what additives they're using," George Bittner, lead author of the study, told Mother Jones. "And in most cases they're not testing them for estrogenic activity, because they don't have to. This is a case in which the consumers are going to have to demand safer products. If they take a stand, they can produce a very quick change in the market."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
7 drinks for every winter need possible
The Week Recommends Including a variety of base spirits and a range of temperatures
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
'We have made it a crime for most refugees to want the American dream'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Was the Azerbaijan Airlines plane shot down?
Today's Big Question Multiple sources claim Russian anti-aircraft missile damaged passenger jet, leading to Christmas Day crash that killed at least 38
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US won its war on 'murder hornets,' officials say
Speed Read The announcement comes five years after the hornets were first spotted in the US
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular stories
Speed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an ocean
Speed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Detailed map of fly's brain holds clues to human mind
Speed Read This remarkable fruit fly brain analysis will aid in future human brain research
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipse
Speed Read While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published