Pharmaceuticals in Products?

By Erin Boles, M.S.W., Interim Executive Director

Did you know that BPA was originally a pharmaceutical?  Chemists originally developed the compound to act as a synthetic estrogen, later replaced by DES – now a known intergenerational carcinogen – which was determined at the time to be a more “effective” estrogen replacement therapy.  As we know, BPA has been redeveloped for new purposes and the chemical now is used in products ranging from soda and soup cans to sales receipts and others.

So, I raise the question: how comfortable are you with a pharmaceutical lacing your products; products that are used for food and beverages and that easily leach into your food or onto your hands through simple contact, in the case of sales receipts.

I also wonder, when should a chemical be called a drug, requiring strict oversight and regulation, and when should it be called “just a chemical”, allowed in unlimited quantities in a range of products that most of us have in our homes?  Intent or outcome?  Because we know that whether intentionally or unintentionally, BPA eventually winds up in our bodies.

Our broken system of chemical regulation ultimately leaves what, in other scenarios would be called medical decisions – like pharmaceutical ingestion – in the hands of chemical and product developers instead of ours, and our own doctors.

A recent slight though statistically significant dip in the breast cancer rate corresponds with the drop in use of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) by peri-menopausal women over the past decade.  Given the growing evidence of BPA’s impact on developing breast cells, and it’s original intent as an estrogen replacement therapy, would we also see a drop in the breast cancer rate if this ubiquitous estrogen replacement was banned?  Given the evidence, I think we owe it to women and their families who may one day meet an avoidable diagnosis to find out.

To take action against BPA, see yesterday’s 31 Days Towards Breast Cancer Prevention blog post to thank Congressman Markey for filing BPA Bill, thank members of the Mass. Congressional delegation who have signed on as co-sponsors, and ask those who haven’t to support this bill.

BPA’s lacking safety is, unfortunately, not a unique concern.  While many chemicals are likely safe, many others are linked with serious health problems while still allowed in consumer and other products.

Together, we CAN fix our broken system of chemical regulation.  Support the Safe Chemicals Act and take a couple minutes to ask our members of Congress to sign on as co-sponsors of the bill.

For quick action at home, read Silent Spring Institute’s study in which study participants reduced BPA levels by 60% in 3 days by eating a fresh food diet.