PLASTICS RELEASE ESTROGENIC CHEMICALS: Study finds that even BPA-FREE PRODUCTS leach potentially problematic compounds

FROM PLASTIC BAGS to water bottles, most plastic products—even those that don’t contain the estrogen mimic bisphenol A—leach chemicals that trigger a bioassay for estrogenic activity, according to an analysis of more than 450 common plastic products ( Environ. Health Perspect., DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1003220). The researchers who carried out the study, which tested only for estrogenic activity and did not identify any specific chemicals, suggest that this ubiquitous estrogenic activity could be eliminated by carefully reformulating plastics. The study didn’t center on BPA but instead focused on quantifying the biological effect of estrogenic activity, irrespective of the chemical causes, explains neurobiologist George D. Bittner of the University of Texas, Austin, who led the study. “Although BPA is the most notorious chemical with estrogenic activity used in plastics, it is not the only one, nor does it have the highest biological effect,” Bittner says. The research was carried out by a team including research...