Toxin Spotlight: BPA

Have you heard of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) like BPA and Phthalates? These chemicals have hormone disrupting effects because of a concept known as hormone mimicry. In short, it’s when chemicals mimic the effects of hormones. This is especially problematic because they can bind to hormone receptors, blocking other hormones from being bound as they normally would and disrupting our delicate balance of hormones.

Bisphenol A (BPA), which is most commonly thought to be in plastic but is also used in food cans (as the inner coating), feminine hygiene products, receipts and even children’s toys and clothing, has an estrogenic effect on the body- in other words, BPA can mimic estrogen and bind to estrogen receptors, blocking other hormones from being bound. This is why BPA can contribute to endocrine disorders including but not limited to infertility, PCOS and breast and prostate cancer.

The dangers of BPA have become pretty mainstream, which is probably why you’ve now noticed so many “BPA-free” options in stores. Unfortunately, these aren’t any better as they’ve simply been replaced with chemicals (namely BPS and BPF) that have been shown to have virtually identical hormone disrupting effects as BPA.

So, how can you reduce your exposure to these hormone disrupting chemicals? The key is avoiding repeated, daily exposure as that is how these toxins accumulate!
✔️Reduce consumption of canned food and packaged food
✔️Use glass and stainless steel instead of plastic (for food storage, water bottles and especially for cooking as chemicals are more likely to leach into the food)
✔️Decline paper receipts! (100% of people who handled receipts had BPA detected in their urine. (Erlich, et all. 2014, JAMA)
✔️Never heat up food in plastic or store hot food in plastic
✔️Purchase wooden toys for kids over plastic ones