BPA Holds True Danger

By: Jessica Robertson

It’s in manufactured products everywhere, from the lining of metal food containers to dental composites, but suspicion continues to grow about the safety of biphenyl a, better known as BPA. Canada has already deemed it a toxic chemical, but the United States is taking its sweet time to address the dangerous compound. Some researchers attribute the dangerous characteristics of BPA to its chemical similarity to biological hormones, especially estrogen, androgen, and thyroid hormones. Since studies on rodents have already shown BPA to be linked to abnormalities like cancer and immune, reproductive, and brain function problems, the United States has extended the studies to include primates. In previous studies, BPA was shown to alter fetal development when rodent mothers were exposed daily to very low doses of BPA, which is cause for alarm and for further research.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, a recent study on rhesus monkeys was considered to be a very similar model to what likely happens within the human system when a pregnant mother is exposed to BPA. Though the rhesus monkeys in the study were exposed to a level considered to be far less than the levels humans are daily exposed to, tissue samples showed damage to the mammary glands, the ovaries, the brain, the uterus, the lungs, and the heart in rhesus monkey fetuses whose mothers were exposed to BPA. It is likely that, often, actual human exposure to BPA is underestimated in both measured levels and in estimated danger. Not only does the study provide evidence that BPA does pass from mother to fetus, but it also provides evidence that BPA causes serious dangers for developing fetuses.

Hopefully the dramatic findings of this study encourage stronger regulations against such a ubiquitous but harmful chemical. 

Do GMO's affect you?

By: Daniela Silva

     When providing a balanced diet for your children, to what extent do you control the nutritional value and safety of their food? One of the most important things you can do to help your child’s overall health is to maintain a healthy diet; full of organic, natural, raw material. Labels also help us make decisions as to what would be a healthier choice for our families. Nonetheless, more than 70% of produce in grocery stores have genetically modified (GM) ingredients that we cannot identify, owing to an absence of labeling. Almost all produce is distributed by Monsanto a company specialized in biotechnology; in other words, specialized in manipulating biological development for their own industrial use. In what way can this be healthy? How may we identify what is safe to eat?  

       Monsanto is a company that seeks to be a hero in a world of famine, using biotechnology to reduce water usage and waste, which by me; that doesn't sound bad at all. However despite their efforts there is more waste being generated and it is impacting the health of consumers, and obviously negatively impacting the ecosystem as well. Mass suicides in India’s agricultural work fields are said to be a result of Monsanto’s Bt cotton, and with further study on Monsanto’s other product; Bt corn, is now considered a pesticide by many.  Both The institute for responsible technology and the organic consumers association are concerned of the long term effects of the toxin as a result of the corn’s capability of producing the pesticide in every kernel of corn. It has been banned in 64 countries to have GM foods without labels.  However it is still kept in our grocery stores

    What is significantly alarming is that we don’t know to what extent genetically modified foods are safe for consumption; how much GM foods occupy our grocery stores. Some tests on store bought produce show that genetically modified foods can link to leukemia, anemia, allergens, and horizontal gene transfer. Whereas Monsanto has stated the food to be”… “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) in the United States, and are considered safe by food safety experts globally.”  Beneficial or not, we are not given the opportunity to make a decision democratically whether or not if it should be on our grocer’s shelves. In addition it is difficult to identify genetically modified products so we are not able to avoid these foods as a whole. As a consumer, I support banning non-labeled GMO foods; do research your local grocery stores and genetically modified products. You’ll be glad you did.