Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a hormone-disrupting chemical found in things like canned soup, plastics, cash register receipts, and even baby formula. While experts have been warning about its dangers for a while now, a new study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation is the first to find a direct link between higher BPA exposure in healthy adults and a greater risk of developing heart disease down the line. Researchers looked at urine samples from a decade ago from hundreds of healthy adults, then checked to see who developed cardiovascular disease within a 10-year period. Those who developed heart disease had higher BPA concentrations in their urine at the beginning of the 10-year period compared to those who remained heart-disease-free. The findings “add to the evidence that BPA may be an additional contributor to heart disease risk, alongside the major risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels,” says senior study author Tamara Galloway, PhD, professor of the University of Exeter. What’s of particular note with this study is that it suggests everyone is at risk to the harmful effects of BPA—not just developing fetuses and infants, as many researchers previously believed. “This study suggests that adults are sensitive to this chemical, and probably other chemicals. There probably is no safe period of exposure,” says Laura Vandenberg, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow of biology at the Center for Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Tufts University in Massachusetts. BPA is one of the most heavily produced chemicals in the world, so it’s impossible to completely avoid, but there are steps you can take to reduce your exposure. Here’s how:
Can it. To make a big dent in consumption, cut out as much canned food as possible. The linings in most commercial canned products contain a BPA resin that leaches into canned soups, baby formulas, and vegetables. For example, a study published last November in the Journal of the American Medical Association found people who ate a can of Progresso soup for lunch experienced a 1,000 percent jump in bodily BPA levels compared to those who ate can-free soup. Just say “no” to receipts. Your skin readily absorbs BPA coating from cash register receipts, so if you’re buying a cup of coffee or something else you don’t need a receipt for, skip it. And if you work in a store at the cash register, wear BPA-free plastic gloves.Go plastic-free. Some No. 7 plastics contain BPA, but other plastics contain different harmful compounds, too. Your best bet is to avoid plastic whenever possible, and never heat plastic in the microwave or run it through the dishwasher.
