Many people might know that plastic containers can release plasticizers and other chemical compounds when hot liquids are put in them, but a health foundation said they can also release Bisphenol A (BPA) when holding cold beverages.
Hsu Hui-yu (許惠玉), head of the John Tung Foundation’s food nutrition section, said that research conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health on 77 Harvard College students showed that using a polycarbonate (PC) bottle for one week increased urinary BPA concentrations by 69 percent.
The research participants were asked to only consume cold beverages in stainless steel bottles for a week and then to drink cold beverages from PC bottles in the second week, and a substantial difference was found in urinary BPA concentrations before and after PC bottle use.
The research result was published in a peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives in 2009.
“Negative health impacts from long-term BPA exposure in young girls might be precocious puberty, or gynecomastia [a condition that causes abnormal breast growth in boys and men] in young boys,” Hsu said.
She cited research by National Cheng Kung University in 2013, which showed that the urinary BPA concentrations of 71 girls diagnosed with precocious puberty were 1.2 to 2.4 times higher than those of 29 girls not diagnosed with precocious puberty.
Hsu said the same research team also conducted intervention research last year, which asked 30 of the girls with precocious puberty from the previous research to avoid touching plastic products and eating from plastic containers, as well as washing their hands before eating, and test results showed a significant drop in their urinary BPA concentrations.
“When containers are used to store beverages that are high in fat or acidity, such as citric acid, the likelihood of high concentration plasticizers being released increases,” Hsu said.
Hsu said BPA is a known environmental hormone and endocrine disruptor that affects the reproductive system and growth development, and is also associated with metabolic syndrome, obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The foundation urged people to use stainless steel or glass containers to store food and beverages, and to remember to wash their hands after touching plastic products and before eating to reduce BPA exposure.
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