I've been aware for a long time of the debate raging over plastic bottles that discharge female hormones into the environment. Some of you may have read about the controversy elsewhere, particularly in relation to infant feeding bottles.
Now, from Germany, we learn of a potentially very scary discovery - one that may affect untold millions of us.
Scientists at Frankfurt University have shown that mineral water in plastic bottles is contaminated with chemicals which act like female hormones in the body.
A research project in conjunction with the German Environment Ministry showed that some were as contaminated as water from sewage works for the oestrogen-like substances.
Martin Wagner, who worked on the study, said in a statement, “When we started the work we did not expect to find such a massive oestrogen contamination in a foodstuff which is so strictly controlled.”
The scientists examined 20 different brands of mineral waters, 12 of which displayed heightened hormone content.
The study, which will be published in the Environmental Science and Pollution Research journal showed that those waters in PET plastic bottles had around twice as much oestrogen contamination as those in glass bottles.
It is thought that the plastic ingredient bisphenol A, which acts like oestrogen, leaches out of the plastic bottles.
“In real life we are not dealing with a single chemical, but with many environmental hormones,” said Professor Jörg Oehlmann, who led the study.
In order to investigate this cocktail effect, the scientists used a genetically-modified strain of yeast which contained human oestrogen receptors.
It is not yet known whether the mineral water contamination could present a health risk.
“Our results show that we are coming into contact with a greater level of environmental hormones than we had previously thought,” Oehlmann. “But we do not yet know anything about their absorption or excretion in and out of the human body.”
It is also not yet known exactly which substance is responsible for the hormonal contamination of the water – the Frankfurt team is continuing to work on this.
I know a great many people who drink bottled water on a daily basis. If it turns out that those bottles have been dispensing quantities of female hormone along with their water . . . that might have very drastic long-term health implications.
This is very worrying indeed. Friends, if you're using bottled water, you might want to re-evaluate your options.
Peter
3 comments:
Now I know why my tit's are gettin' bigger.
I thought it was the beer.
OK, it's the plastic, right?
Not just that, oestrogen will among other things, make you more prone to obesity. Another oestrogen source is soy, which is in nearly every prefab food in the USA these days, something like 80% of the food has soy in it. (Classic japanese soy sauce does not have oestrogen because of how it is cooked, but most soy products do). It's at least a factor in why american average weight has ballooned so much.
It's not all bad though... if you're a middle aged woman, extra oestrogen is quite good for you...
There's been a huge stink about BPA (bisphenol A) in baby bottles causing behavioral changes in babies and possibly contributing to early puberty in girls. Most of the big manufacturers went on a voluntary ban and changed their products to BPA, phthalate and PVC free, but I don't know if there is a gov't ban on it. Parents have also been switching to glass bottles and silicone bottles to try to be safer.
Post a Comment