The Stealth Assassins: How Bisphenol A ( BPA )And Phthalates From Plastic Water Bottles Are Killing Us Softly

About a couple of months ago, I heard a news on National Public Radio ( NPR ) that troubled me profoundly. While the saying, “ What you don’t know can kill you “ is a common knowledge, that was the day I really understood that caveat.

According to the reporter, a research by Orb Media, a journalism organization, discovered plastic particles, averaging 10 per liter in nearly all major brands of bottled water. The tests were conducted at the State University of New York, Fredonia, under the leadership of Professor Sherri Mason. She told BBC News: “ We found [ plastic ] in bottle after bottle and brand after brand.

“ It’s not about pointing fingers at particular brands; it’s really showing that this is everywhere, that plastic has become a pervasive material in our society, and it’s pervading water - all the products that we consume at a very basic level.”

Their findings didn’t surprise me because this is not the first time we’re hearing this. However, what shocked me, and got my goat, was the revelation that experts told BBC that people in developing countries where tap water may be polluted should continue to drink from plastic bottles. How insulting!

The argument that water in plastic bottle is safe is not true. What is more disturbing is the effect of micro plastics on the most vulnerable - fetuses. The fact of the matter is, chemical pollution begins in the womb - from conception, fetuses are exposed to toxic soups mothers are exposed to during pregnancy, and transfer the pollutants to the fetuses via the placenta.

The dangers of Phthalates and Bisphenol A ( BPA ), compounds found in plastic bottles are well established in several scientific studies. For example, BPA and Phthalates interfere with the Endocrine System - System of glands that produce hormones that regulate every aspect of human health. The human hormone system controls our basic physiology. A major hormone disruptor in plastics is BPA. It can imitate the bodies hormones and interfere with the production, secretion, transport, action, function and elimination of natural hormones.

BPA can mimic the female hormone, estrogen. The supply of estrogen to the fetus is controlled by the placenta in order to achieve normal male and female development. Placenta is the gateway that detoxifies the estrogen from the mother before it passes on to the fetus. BPA, though looks like estrogen, is not recognized by the detoxification enzymes and passes unhindered through the placenta to the fetus. Look at the placenta as a security barrier to your treasury, which, when breached because someone impersonates your regular guard, can lead to several unpleasant unintended consequences.

Laboratory studies have proved a link between chemicals and certain human diseases. Hormones work in infinitesimally small doses so just a little dose of a hormone disruptor can result in a very severe adverse effect. For example, laboratory male guinea pigs given tiny doses of estrogen ( steroid hormones that promote the development and maintenance of female characteristics of the body ), had underdeveloped genital organs. It can also cause sterility, low sperm count and cancer.

Whereas in laboratory experimental studies it’s easy to inject the compound in an animal and monitor its effects, it’s not so with humans, cos it’s not easy to find volunteers to serve as human guinea pigs in such studies. However, correlational research where associations among naturally occurring variables are studied are employed. Such studies have been used to link BPA levels to obesity in youths, prostrate cancer, fatty liver, improper sperm development, decrease in male fertility and many more.

Because cause and effect can not be established in correlational studies, fallacies abound that plastics are harmless. Nothing can be further from the truth!

The threat of plastics to humans is real, but with the looming denialist propaganda, it will take a long while for the case against plastics to stick. By then the assess would have bolted from the barn, and it would be too late. Hopefully, my ass would not be among the runaway donkeys. No pun intended.

I hope people from the developing countries, particularly Africa, don’t accept that their only choice is between polluted tap water and BPA / Phthalates-filled acidic bottled water. There is a better choice - soon to splash the globe, environmentally friendly alternative that comes in reusable stainless steel flasks - Water3!

As adults, drinking BPA/ Phthalates-laced water is a choice, but for the sake of the most vulnerable - fetuses and infants, who have no say as to what they eat or drink, let’s do the right thing and switch to water3.

THINK BETTER BE BETTER DO MORE
Charles Biney
Dallas, TX