scientific evidence on BPA

BPA, short for bisphenol-A, and certain other environmental chemicals can have very weak, hormone-like effects. Tests show BPA in nearly everyone's urine, though the chemical has been removed from baby bottles and many reusable drink containers in recent years. The federal Food and Drug Administration says BPA is safe as used now in other food containers.

BPA is used to line cans to prevent corrosion, but it is also found in plastic bottles, tableware and food storage containers. BPA is referred to by researchers as a "hormone-disrupting chemical" due to links to health risks including reproductive problems, neurodevelopmental delays, diabetes and obesity. The chemical is banned in Canada and the European Union. In the United States, BPA was banned from baby bottles and sippy cups in July 2012, but the Food and Drug Administration has rejected an outright ban of the chemical, saying current scientific evidence "does not suggest that the very low levels of human exposure to BPA through the diet are unsafe." Researchers recruited 114 women in early pregnancy and gave them blood tests, storing their samples. Blood was later tested in women who had given birth and women who had a miscarriage in the first trimester. They assigned women into four groups based on their blood levels of BPA from lowest to highest, and then assessed miscarriage risk for each group. Women who had a miscarriage had higher BPA levels on average than women who had live births. Miscarriage risk rose with increasing levels of BPA in mom's blood, with women in the group with the highest levels at about an 80 percent increased risk.