Across the U.S., a growing number of cities are banning various types of plastics for environmental and health concerns. And now, New York City, which this year banned foam containers and packing peanuts, has a new one in its crosshairs: paper receipts coated in BPA, a chemical that, among other things, is suspected of increasing the risk of hormone-linked cancers.
"We need to get rid of those chemicals and also get rid of paper waste," Council Speaker Corey Johnson said Tuesday on WNYC radio.
Read MoreThe Health Effects of BPA
BPA, or bisphenol A, is an industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate, a hard, clear plastic, which is used in many consumer products. BPA is also found in epoxy resins, which act as a protective lining on the inside of some metal-based food and beverage cans. The chemical is highly ubiquitous — so much so that researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that nearly everyone has at least some of it in their body. But general exposure to BPA at low levels comes from eating food or drinking water stored in containers that have BPA. While in 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of BPA in plastic sippy cups given to infants — the ban came after a study suggested that the chemical could interfere with early childhood development — it’s even more unclear what the effect is when transferred by touch.The cancer link question was raised after researchers found that BPA “may mimic the hormone estrogen,” which, in theory, could increase the risk of breast, ovarian, uterine and prostate cancers. The CDC’s official fact sheet reads, “BPA has been shown to affect the reproductive systems of laboratory animals. More research is needed to understand the human health effects of exposure to BPA.”
What the Experts Say
There is some debate as to whether BPA increases the risk of cancer.
“There's no hard evidence that BPA increases cancer risk in adults or children,” Dr. Therese Bevers, medical director of the Cancer Prevention Center at the MD Anderson Cancer Center shared in an MD Anderson blog post.
But Dr. Katherine Reeves, a University of Massachusetts epidemiologist who has researched BPA's correlation with breast cancer in animals, tells Bloomberg that "It's definitely a concern.” She said other research suggests it may be associated with autism, obesity and hormone-linked cancers.
Of course, “our understanding of what causes cancer is always evolving," Dr. Bevers also said, echoing what Dr. Jay Shah, a urologist at Stanford Health, told SurvivorNet in a previous conversation about whether manicures cause cancer (they don’t).
RELATED: Relax: A Manicure Doesn't Cause Cancer
“Twenty, 30, 40 years ago, we didn’t know as much about these things,” Dr. Shah said, referring to chemicals that could potentially increase cancer risk. “So a lot of times, the patients have exposures when they were younger to these kinds of chemicals, and there’s not a specific one right answer for everybody.”
If New York City moves forward with the ban on BPA-coated receipts, then, it would seem those who live there should worry more about the effect on the environment than on their health.
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