Greater Exposure To -- And Harm From -- Common Chemical

A statement released by 38 scientists raised new concerns yesterday about a common chemical found in every home, and nearly every American body. Scientists for years have been conducting studies that raised worrying concerns about the chemical, but this is the first coordinated statement that draws on the most reputable of those studies and represents a consensus view of some premier researchers in the field.

It's called Bisphenol-A, or BPA, and it is used in a many hard plastics, the linings of metal cans and a variety of other products found in every home. The chemical leaches out in small amounts and tests have found it in the blood and tissues of most Americans. Animal studies have linked exposure to low doses of Bisphenol-A to such things as obesity, early puberty, hyperactivity, and abnormal sexual behavior and reproductive cycles, according to USA Today's report. That's because it mimics hormones -- the chemical messengers that trigger biological responses at minute levels.

BPA is one of several suspected "endocrine disruptors" -- and some are very concerned about the effect of exposure to a stew of hormone-mimicking substances on a day-to-day basis. Studies like these are what sometimes land environmentalists with the label of scaremonger. What are we to do, after all -- immediately stop using common products we've come to rely on?

But without an understanding of how man-made chemicals affect human health and the environment, they cannot be properly regulated, and without proper regulation, exposure to the bad actors will continue. The prospect that such common modern problems as obesity, hyperactivity and reproductive problems could be linked to chemicals in the environment is worrying, but also offers some hope that the causes of complex societal problems can be identified and corrected.

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