What is bisphenol A and where can we find it
If you have had children not long ago, and you have had to buy some children's products such as pacifiers, teats and bottles, you may have noticed a warning that has surely caught your attention: "Product without bisphenol A". In these cases, especially if you have never heard of it before, you may wonder what Bisphenol A is, what it consists of, and above all why it is warned about its non-existence in certain products.
The truth is that the bisphenol A (abbreviated usually as BPA), It's about a organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It basically consists of a chemical compound commonly used in food packaging, being usual to find it in bottles, cans, thermal papers and plastics.
What is bisphenol A?
Explained from a technical point of view, we can say that BPA or bisphenol A is an organic compound consisting of a block-monomer-dysfunctional, present in many plastics and plastic additives, key in the production of epoxy resin as well as in the most common and usual plastic polycarbonate.
That is to say, it is a compound that is used mainly in the manufacture of plastics for more than fifty years, and since then we can find in the market in the form of cans, bottles and plastics, but the reality is that we can find it in a wide variety of products, very diverse.
Where can we find bisphenol A?
Although it is popularly known that it is common to find bisphenol A in products so common today as for example are cans, bottles and plastics, the reality is that we can also observe it in bottles, medical and dental devices, organic eyeglasses, CD and DVD , appliances and even sports equipment.
In the case of packaged food products, it is possible to find bisphenol A used as a coating in food and beverage cans.
However, its use in the food industry and in other products that we usually find in the market, being of daily use, is in doubt, in relation to its safety.
Warnings on the toxicity of bisphenol A
For some years, dozens of scientific studies have been carried out that have pursued a clear objective: to discover -and warn- about the use of bisphenol in products used in our daily life, and to find out whether in fact its usual use is safe or not.
The first studies could confirm that bisphenol A, being an endocrine disruptor, is capable of causing imbalances in the hormonal system, while at even very low concentrations it can cause toxic effects on our health.
These effects are especially due to the consumption of certain foods, which have been contaminated by coming into contact with products that possess bisphenol A, such as cans, bottles, containers and containers.
Already in 2010 the American FDA generated a greater awareness in relation to the exposure of fetuses, babies and young children to products with bisphenol A. In fact, in France its alimentary use was prohibited, while in 2011 the European Union eliminated from baby bottles.
Image | Wojciech Kulicki
