670 Sex Hormone Disruption

I have TMJ... I wear a splint nightly to help this. My night splint wears out because I grind and clench my teeth in the night in addition to the normally expected friction caused by teeth. My dentist says this is made of polycarbonate. I also have frequent migraines. I am 60 years old and have fibromyalgia as well. Do you think there is a connection with the polycarbonate and migraines/fibromyalgia?

I use Pyrex for cooking in the microwave because I always break glass. Have there been any tests done on Pyrex to see if it is safe?

Wow! Pretty scary! Although for anyone who got hormone shots in the 1950's like me to prevent a miscarriage, it's too late. Our first child was a boy, so supposedly this didn't affect boys. But today I hear that it might have affected them after all in causing other problems, such as the necessity of in vitro conception. At age 50 he also got several autoimmune diseases, including lymphoma. Of course, I don't know if my initial hormone shot caused all this. It's a sickening thought, however.

More directly involved was our second child, a beautiful daughter, who got ovarian cancer at age 29, suffered with it for 18 years before succumbing to it in 2005. The doctor told me at the time of her diagnosis that the cancer had not been caused by my hormone shot. I had asked him about that since around that time questions had already been raised about the use of that hormone.

My third child, a daughter, is fine up to now. We have 9 granddaughters and it is frightening to think they might have been affected by a decision I made so long ago.

I myself had a lumpectomy plus radiation a year ago and seem to be fine.

Can bisphenol-a be the cause of precocious puberty? How can you tell what plastic bisphenol-a is in, shampoo bottles? Cups you drink out of?

I am again dissapointed by FDA and US govt for not protecting consumers. Son with ADD issues.

I was listening to your show about bisphenol A in plastic items while on the way to my weekly big grocery shopping. I was so impressed with the evidence of harm presented that I thought I would see what food I could buy without plastic wrap or containers or cans.

Well, in fact, my options were few! I bought a lot of fresh veggies, but had to put them in the plastic bags for handling, but vowed to take them out when storing them at home. We don't drink sodas, but many of the other 'healthy' drinks come in plastic. I searched for glass bottled juices, oils, spices, and vegetables -- very few choices. The meats, eggs, 'smart' margarines--even the organic versions, all came in plastic or styrofoam containers, and often wrapped in plastic.

I usually buy large and freeze my food in smaller servings wrapped in plastic wrap or zip-lock baggies. My shopping cart was full of new and interesting choices for the week for sure, but I must ask you this... Are there some good plastics? Some come from corn, some come from other sources, but can we get more specific about the ones that break down faster? I guessed that if the foods were not alcoholic, acidic, or heated, the breakdown would be slower, and we'd have a chance to rewrap for storage. Shall we go back to waxed paper, oiled brown paper?

What I'm asking, I guess, is what are our best moves, now that we suspect this very convenient and universally used material to be a major contributor to our health problems?

Thanks for any enlightenment and thanks for a show that is always informative and interesting.

Teri

This information has been known to some for a long time. It is wonderful that you are making the public more aware. All of the rivers in WI now have pharmacutical drugs in them according to the state biologist speaking at one of our well-pump installers ongoing education classes. Some of the fish are developing dual sex organs.

This was an extremely revealing program and a very disturbing one. I'm wondering how anyone can avoid contamination from this ubiquitous BPA chemical compound found seemingly everywhere.

The comments by the excellent researchers on the program have made me re-evaluate many of my cooking methods and to continue to embrace my practice of consuming as much "living" food as I can, i.e. raw foods, such as fruits, vegetables and sprouted grains. I also try to avoid processed foods when I can--a real challenge.

I have advised my future daughter-in-law to listen to this particular segment or to least research the content, since she has a daughter who just turned two.

The wellness counselor I have consulted with regularly has been on top of this phenomenon for years, so I need to continue to pay attention to him.
His website is www.rebuildhealth.com
Keep up the good work on your show. You are providing a valuable service.

...Karl Kunkel, High Point, NC

I listened to this program this morning and am so grateful you are bringing the very real dangers of BPA to the public's attention. This truly is frightening and something must be done!

I LOVE your show, especially this one. I come from a family of 6 kids, all healthy and happy. My precious and only child was born with a serious heart defect, Hypo Plastic Left Heart Syndrome, and had to have a heart transplant at 2 weeks of age to have a 2nd chance at life; then at age 18 months, another bombshell was dropped on us and they told us he is also severely autistic. We are devastated. I am lookig for answers and today's show was truly very important for me to listen to as I am looking for answers to know what happened to my precious little boy. THANK YOU.
Shohreh his devastated but grateful mom

I deeply appreciate your coverage of this topic.

I wonder if this has a direct involvement with the phenomenon we see of our girls starting to menstruate younger and younger?

Thanks!

I have seen lots of info going around about BPA, but this one really brought it home! I had large fibroids removed several times throught my young life and a hyterectomy at the ripe old age of 30!

It certainly makes me think!

So then, does that Brita Water filter pitcher in my fridge, that is made of clear, hard, plastic, leaching chemicals into my freshly filtered water???

I found your show on plastic containers very interesting. I had heard a little about this on the news not too long ago. However they didn' go into the kind of detail you did. I have a question. What about the plastic containers TV dinners are packed in that you have to heat them in. Is it a safe plastic (if there is such a thing)? I hope you will cover this on your next show.

Thanks for your hard work in keeping us all informed. Your shows are always very informative.

Embrace sealants by Pulpdent, for placement on the biting surfaces of children's teeth to prevent decay, does not contain this substance.

Wonderful show but quite scary and very sad. We seem to be the victims of misguiding and/or bad information and products from those institutions that should be helping and protecting us. Thanks to Joe and Terry for bringing this and other subjects out in the open. The interviewee only mentioned plastics # 7 as being made with BPA and #2 & 5 being OK. I am wondering about the other #s. Is that information available?

This is so disturbing. If Japan can outlaw these chemicals, why can't we? Is there some way that we can get some legislation started, or is this something that will be beaten down by lobbiests? Are we powerless? I feel that way. Is there some way that we can have choices at the grocery store? Please devote additional time... maybe a third program in this series... for more clarification regarding the best alternatives.

Looking back, my grandson was born 3 months early and weighed about a pound and a half. I remember noting that his plastic bottles were microwaved. He is 14 now and has always had some problems, but he did not need avoidable problems. Thank goodness that for part of the year it is possible to eat locally in my state. Let's all support our local CSA farmers.

My husband and I listened to your program and were very disturbed, as we have 2 boys -- ages 2 and 1 -- and are frightened about how much we may have done wrong! Are there any articles we can reference to change the way we live?

Also, does anyone know about frozen fruits and vegetables? Are they safe in their plastic bags? What about the "steam in a bag" frozen veggies???

Many thanks!

My mom called me urging me to get a copy of your radio show on this subject. My husband and I have seven years of unexplained infertility, and his brother is severely autistic. My husband was born in Seoul, and he and his brother grew up on the south side of Chicago. I grew up on military bases around the world. We now live in an urban part of Virginia, outside Washington DC. We assume that both of us have been exposed to high levels of contaminates all our lives. My question is this: is there any way to diagnose what toxins are in our bodies, and can we reverse the impact of such exposure, if this, indeed, is what is causing our problems? Where could we go to have a panel performed?

For balance:
http://www.bisphenol-a.org/whatsNew/20060505.html

This was an interesting program -- the type that makes you stop what you're doing and just listen.

A couple things it's prompted us to do -- put up tomatoes this summer ourselves vs. buying them in cans.

As a mother with a toddler -- what about plastic plates, cups? I've heard conflicting information about the BornFree plastics and others that say they are free of the bad chemicals -- thoughts?

It would be great to have a follow-up program with more practial information -- to know even better what to worry about, what to relax about.

Thanks so much for your terrific program!

Thank you, thank you for producing a program on this issue! I’ve been casually researching this topic for over a year, since my first daughter was born. I’m often left with more questions than answers and an overwhelming, cornered feeling. It is critical to not only provide listeners with evidence on the effects of Bisphenol-A, but to also empower them with the information they need to limit their exposure to this and other environmental toxins, if they choose to. Dr. Saal gave some advice, but more is needed, paired with the reasons behind those choices. For a primer on ‘good’ and ‘bad’ plastics, see the following:

GreenGuide: Safest Reusable Plastics for Holding Food and Water
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/108/plastic

GreenGuide: Product Report – Plastic Containers
http://www.thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=44

In short, avoid plastics numbered 3, 6, 7, those without numbers, and syran wrap. Use #1 only for one-time use, never re-use. These plastics leach chemicals like Bisphenol-A, wear and tear increases this leaching and re-use of #1 plastics can also promote bacterial growth.

Numbers 2, 4 and 5 are at this point the safer plastics. Even with # 2, 4 and 5, never microwave in them, don’t store acidic foods in them, and don’t put them in the dishwasher. Consider buying glass containers for food storage.

As far as water…bottled water isn’t safer anyways. We have a carbon filter in our refrigerator and use this filtered water for all drinking and cooking. Consider buying a whole house water filter and stainless steel water bottles, available online.

As a new mother, I also avoid the ‘bad’ plastics for my toddler’s toys and eating utensils. I’ve called toy manufacturers to find out what types of plastic their products are made from and many times (Fisher Price) they are not willing to disclose because, they say, it’s proprietary information, but become guarded when I explain that I’m concerned about leaching. Good old-fashioned wooden toys (with non-toxic paints) made in the USA and Europe are widely available online.

Maybe for the third part of your show you can tackle non-stick pans (which I don’t use) and what about the plastic pipes that most newer plumbing is composed of?

Fibromyalgia may or may not have any relationship to plastics exposure, but it seems to be an auto-immune condition. That means there's a good chance it can be helped by increasing consumption of Vitamin D3 to at least 2000mg per day. Very few of us get enough sunshine in the darker months to provided needed D3. This is probably a reason for many health problems
since D3 modulates Calcium metabolism and the immune system. Why supplement? We evolved as tropical animals lacking fur, with our essential D3 made from skin oils exposed to sunshine.

Alarming and disturbing, this show provided a light-bulb moment for me.

When one of the rearchers mentioned that prenatal exposure to bisphenol-A decreases the body's methylation capacity, I immediately thought of autism. Weakness in the functioning of the methylation cycle is the biochemical hallmark of autism. So I wasn't surprised when later in the program it was revealed that neurological conditions like autism result in lab animals exposed to bisphenol-A during development.

The researchers' animal study results (elevated heart disease, diabetes, cancer, neurological disorders) are very well supported by their observation that bisphenol-A reduces the methylation capacity of genome. Methylation is required for a host of biochemical reactions in the body including synthesis of RNA & DNA (disrupt this and you can diminish the body's ability to repair DNA, thereby increasing risk of cancer), regulation of homocysteine levels (high levels increase risk of heart disease), and detoxifying chemical toxins (research has shown that autistic children lack the ability to excrete toxins such as mercury, and mercury exposure results in autistic symptoms). See www.autism.com/ari/mercurylong.htm

For more information about the methylation and autism, see the Publications portion of http://holistichealth.com/

BTW, does anyone know if the plastic rings on the lids of jars contain bisphenol A?