Baby Bottles/Plastics May Cause Obesity/Illness/Early Puberty

[Isoverity]

In the UK:

"Baby bottles 'may cause obesity"

A chemical used to make babies' bottles could lead to obesity in later life, scientists have said.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, has previously been linked to the early development of puberty as well as neurological problems in infants.

The research comes a week after children's groups called for items containing BPA to be banned amid questions over possible side effects.

A number of North American companies (including WalMart) have already announced plans for BPA-free products following the controversy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1956069/Baby-bottles-'may-cause-obesity'.html


In US:

"Chemicals May Play Role in Rise in Obesity"

Too many calories and too little exercise are undeniably the major factors contributing to the obesity epidemic, but several recent animal studies suggest that environmental exposure to widely used chemicals may also help make people fat.

"The evidence is preliminary, but a number of researchers are pursuing indications that the chemicals, which have been shown to cause abnormal changes in animals' sexual development, can also trigger fat-cell activity -- a process scientists call adipogenesis.

The chemicals under scrutiny are used in products from marine paints and pesticides to food and beverage containers. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found one chemical, bisphenol A, in 95 percent of the people tested, at levels at or above those that affected development in animals.

These findings were presented at last month's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A spokesman for the chemical industry later dismissed the concerns, but Jerry Heindel, a top official of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), who chaired the AAAS session, said the suspected link between obesity and exposure to "endocrine disrupters," as the chemicals are called because of their hormone-like effects, is "plausible and possible."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031100918.html


In Canada:


"Health Canada bisphenol A announcement imminent"


Health Canada is expected to classify bisphenol A as a dangerous substance as early as Wednesday, which could lead to regulations on the increasingly controversial chemical.

BPA, which is used to make many hard plastic toys, bottles and food containers, is thought to mimic the hormone estrogen. Recent independent studies link the chemical to breast cancer, obesity, infertility and insulin-resistance in rodents.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/stor...l.html?ref=rss


And from Science Dailey:

"Endocrine Disruptors In Common Plastics Linked To Obesity" Risk"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0514091427.htm

Exposure during development either in the womb or during infancy to chemicals used to make products such as baby bottles, the lining of food tins and some plastic food wraps and containers, may contribute to the development of obesity, according to new research presented at the European Congress on Obesity."

[snailonvalium]

^^its interesting,as a study.
but i think people are just looking for more excuses as to reasons people who are genuinely lazy/eat too much are obese-ie they want to blame everything/everyone but themselves.
IM NOT having a go at people here,im saying,those who are overweight who blame it on slow metabolism/underactive thyroid/rare diseases/etc-who have NOTHING wrong with them,are just being given more exceuses.
the only way to combat the obesity epidemic is for people to eat fewer calories and do more exercise/be more active,and for those with psychological problems which fuel their overeating-therapy.

[Le Almighty Kitten]

It's quite interesting how hyped up people are getting about this and yet they're not bothered about using infant carriers constantly, smoking around their children or using disposable nappies! Among other points that is.

Alot of articles fail to point out that the main risk is from a scratched bottle which then has boiling water placed in it (relevent to how feeds are made up) or that teats, rather than bottles have also been shown to be carcinogenic. There's interesting info for parents here btw.

I know alot of Mums are reverting to glass bottles but personally there are bigger things to be worrying about.

Hope you're well btw Jack :)

[Isoverity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by snailonvalium

^^its interesting,as a study.
but i think people are just looking for more excuses as to reasons people who are genuinely lazy/eat too much are obese-ie they want to blame everything/everyone but themselves.
IM NOT having a go at people here,im saying,those who are overweight who blame it on slow metabolism/underactive thyroid/rare diseases/etc-who have NOTHING wrong with them,are just being given more exceuses.
the only way to combat the obesity epidemic is for people to eat fewer calories and do more exercise/be more active,and for those with psychological problems which fuel their overeating-therapy.

I hear what you are saying. What caught my interest first was the "early puberty" issue. For awhile I've been reading/hearing that girls seem to be "developing" earlier than they used to and boys sort of lagging.

Good article bits here:

"In recent decades, increases in the number of boys born with genital deformities, girls experiencing early puberty and adults with low sperm counts, uterine cysts and infertility prompted some researchers to wonder whether the prevalence of bisphenol A could be interfering with human development and reproduction....

Scientists began looking for a link between bisphenol A and spikes in cancer, obesity and hyperactivity. Others, such as Patricia Hunt, simply stumbled onto it...

Hunt, a scientist at Case Western Reserve University, was investigating the connection between maternal age and Down syndrome in 1998 when all of her laboratory mice, including those not treated in any way, began exhibiting chromosomal abnormalities...

Her investigation revealed that bisphenol A was leaching from the animals' polycarbonate cages, and it was the chemical that had caused the problems.

Ana Soto, a researcher at Tufts University, began noticing that her lab mice treated with bisphenol A were a lot fatter than her other mice....

"This is basic endocrinology," said Frederick vom Saal, a biologist at the University of Missouri who has been studying bisphenol A for more than a decade. "You learn this in any introductory class. Hormones work on an extremely sensitive system."


http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=692145

[chasing bliss]

Stuff with hormones creeps me out. Meat, plastic, water, whatever. It's just wrong. The thing that bugs me is that there's no genuine need for those chemicals to be there in the first place. I am totally fine with a ban on BPA. It's been a hot topic here for the past couple of months.

I'm also willing to bet that this is way hyped up, but really, there's nothing to lose in removing one of the bazillion toxic things we expose ourselves to daily, especially since there seem to be some strong links in this particular case.

[concrete girl]

I think the whole hype over BPA aka #7 plastics is ridiculous, personally.

They might prove a correlation, but so many other things have also increased over the past however many years that it would be nearly impossible to prove that BPA actually directly causes these things.

I feel that we have other, more pressing concerns that deserve the public 'panic' over these plastics. I mean, we've been drinking and eating out of them for how long? A bit longer isn't going to kill us.