Common Plastics Chemical Linked To Egg Abnormalities In Mice - New Scientist

[hatrack]

Female mice exposed to a common chemical found in plastics while in the womb develop abnormal eggs, according to a new study. Based on this finding, researchers speculate that the chemical, bisphenol A, might increase the risk of spontaneous abortion and genetic disorders in humans, such as Down's syndrome. Bisphenol A, or BPA, is commonly found in hard plastics and the lining of tin cans. The chemical has come under scrutiny before because it can mimic the hormone oestrogen.

Patricia Hunt at Washington State University in Pullman, US, and colleagues exposed pregnant mice to 20 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of their bodyweight each day over a one-week period. During this same period, the reproductive cells of female mice developing inside in the womb begin a process of division known as meiosis.

Meiosis ultimately yields mature eggs, which have half the number of chromosomes as other cells in the body. But the process is gradual. In humans, for example, cells only reach the end of this division process before ovulation.
Scrambled eggs

Researchers followed the female mouse pups that had been exposed to BPA in the womb. When these mice reached adulthood, Hunt's team examined their eggs. More than one in every 20 cells taken from those mice had unpaired chromosomes – an abnormal trait. This trait was completely absent in cells taken from the BPA-free control mice.

EDIT

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10946-plastics-chemical-harms-eggs-in-unborn-mice.html

[donsu]

1. not to be ignored research results

before plastics the amount of preemie babies born was extremely low. now hospital have units just for preemies.

[Dogmudgeon]

4. And thus, I rant.

Research is typically ignored, unless it can make someone rich.

Halogenated hydrocarbons have been known to have carcinogenic and teratogenic effects for decades.

Phtalates and the congeners of polyvinyl chloride plastics are highly toxic -- and common.

Fluoride and mercury are well-known poisons, but question fluoridation of municipal water or mercury in dental amalgam, and the bwa-has fly out from a thousand "skeptics".

Food inspection is now basically non-existent, as those who have suffered and survived E. coli O157:H7 infections can tell you.

Nuclear fallout is also dangerous. The vast majority of our radioactive pollution comes not from nuclear reactors, or even from bomb tests in the 1950s, but from burning coal.

For decades, women were instructed that taking estrogen after menopause was a Good Thing. Oops, looks like it causes heart trouble. Meanwhile, levels of testosterone in men are dropping dramatically, but this won't get much attention because thirty years of sexist/reductionist "humor" has taught us that testosterone is bad.

(Reductionism? For example, pleasure is endorphines, excitement is adrenalin, bread is complex carbs, and thinking is called "the left brain". Should it be a surprise that "testosterone" is anything unpleasant that is associated with masculine behavior? We no longer have complex responses, tastes, and behaviors, we're just a bunch of chemical and biological processes, none of which are undiscovered.)

Our foods are less nutritious than they've ever been. Why is this? The soil is undergoing rapid depletion (the eeevil anti-ethanol Dr. Pimentel has been documenting this for decades) and factory farming is to blame. The tissue composition of feed animals has changed dramatically, too. Our own tissue composition can not have escaped this trend.

Then, we have genetically-modified foods. A great idea, but we're only just starting to learn how genetic recombination works in protein synthesis. Most of the new proteins found in GMO crops cause allergic reactions of one sort or another. And more than half the soybeans and corn are now GMO.

Don't even get me started on drugs. And unfortunately, a lot of medicinal herbs have the same kinds of problems.

The way these poisons and deleterious effects accumulate is simple -- those with financial interests make sure that the Peers who do the Reviewing are in their pockets. They get the FDA and the EPA to set allowable limits high enough not to bother their industries. They then chant "The Science says ... The Science says ..." until a trance state is induced. (How's that for New Age mumbo-jumbo?) And speaking of which, they pour millions of dollars into P.R. to marginalize anyone without a white lab coat who raises uncomfortable issues. The bwa-ha brigade against mercury and fluoride, for instance; endless tofu and granola jokes; remember the Euell Gibbons jokes in the 1970s?

And, alas, some of the proponents for better health and ecology are self-marginalizing. PeTA, for instance, has rivaled the Bush Administration and the Church of Scientology in its ability to shoot itself in the foot.

In general, I try not to worry myself about these things. I'm physically sick enough as it is, and I don't believe that orthodox, alternative, or any other kind of medicine has the answer -- and "clean up the environment!" just isn't going to be done. So I eat plenty of (less-nutritious) vegetables, take vitamins to replace what has been stolen from the food, and keep my fingers crossed.

We have to get a lot more demanding a lot faster -- and put up with higher prices for food. "Re-building" agriculture -- the basis for the physical health of the population -- isn't going to be cheap, nor will it be as easy as saying "make mine organic" or "Peer Review" or "go vedge".

It is not easy for me to be optimistic. I guess my left brain is too low on endorphines. Still, I believe we can do it, but it won't be easy or quick.

--p!

[kestrel91316]

2. WARNING: Plastics = endocrine disruptors. Not all of them all the time,

but enough of them, enough of the time that we should seriously rethink the use of any plastics anywhere near our food.

I'm quite serious.

Pop-top can lining >>>>>> probably involved in hyperthyroidism in cats (proven to be so in rats).

Phthalates >>>>>> deformities of reproductive systems particularly in male mammals.

God knows what else. Maybe we should WELCOME the end of the age of oil. Plastics are a curse.

[Frustratedlady]

3. I agree it is scary.

We had a regional dairy which packaged their products in wax-lined containers...including cottage cheese. When they switched to plastic, the difference in the taste was incredible. I finally stopped buying cottage cheese, as everyone was using plastic.

It can't be good to microwave food in plastic, I don't care who says it is safe. I think it would be great to move back before plastic and high fructose syrups. Both have caused irreparable damage.

[XemaSab]

5. K&R

More people need to know about this.