The most dangerous substance, bisphenol A, was found in cans for canned food. The study was carried out in the laboratory of analytical ecotoxicology of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. A. N. Severtsov RAS
Bisphenol A is a synthetic analogue of estrogens and therefore behaves in the body like female sex hormones, - says Efim Brodsky, head of this laboratory, doctor of chemical sciences. - It is used in the production of some plastics. Due to its toxicity, it is now receiving close attention around the world. But in Russia, the maximum permissible concentration of bisphenol A in products has not even been established. There is only a standard for its content in water. We have developed a method for the detection of bisphenol in food. But so far it is not in demand: Rospotrebnadzor does not pay attention to bisphenol. In the meantime, our research has shown that it is found in baby food, canned food and other products in metal cans.
There is a lot of buzz around the world around bisphenol A. Last year, American scientists convincingly showed that it is harmful to boys, even in so-called harmless concentrations. Officially, they are considered safe, and we see them very often. It is especially dangerous for the reproductive system of the future man during intrauterine development and in the first year of life.
The baby receives the chemical through the placenta, then with breast milk and baby food. In the womb, bisphenol negatively affects the development of the testes, and after birth, the formation of Leydig cells, which produce the male hormone testosterone. The chemical is also harmful to future women - it can negatively affect the formation of the ovaries. And it looks like it can lead to infertility and early menopause. Scientists do not exclude that such changes can be inherited. In addition, this artificial hormone interferes with normal estrogen, increasing the risk of breast cancer in women, prostate cancer in men, as well as other cancers, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. These studies were published in many serious journals, they were told about in representative scientific forums.
It is no coincidence that the United States and Canada banned polycarbonate baby bottles containing BPA in 2010. France and Denmark did the same, but the European Union has long defended products for babies with this substance.
The interests of the manufacturers of bottles and other dishes with bisphenol for the smallest were lobbied by the British. But in November last year, the sale and import of such products to Europe was still banned from May 1, 2011. It seems that the decision of European officials was influenced by Professor Frederik vom Saal. He published a study in the famous journal Environmental Health Perspectives in which he proved that a chemical behaves the same in the body of mice and humans. This knocked out the main argument from the lobbyists who argued that animal research did not apply to humans.
Moreover, Vom Saal showed that the level of contamination with this substance is higher than previously thought. He called on representatives of the chemical industry to reveal all areas of application of bisphenol - many of them still remain a mystery. It is now known that, in addition to plastics, it is used for the inner coating of cans (to protect the walls of the cans from metal corrosion) and for heat-sensitive paper for checks and tickets.
“We mainly tested baby food in cans,” says Denis Feshin, PhD in Chemistry, an employee of the Laboratory of Analytical Ecotoxicology. - In principle, the coating for them can be made of materials in which bisphenol is not used, and our examination showed that there is practically no bisphenol in some samples. But in others, it may exceed the MPC for water by 2-4 times (we compared its content with this indicator, since it is absent for products). This suggests that manufacturers do not pay enough attention to packaging for their products.
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The table shows that the dose of bisphenol in different products differs hundreds of times. Therefore, introducing control over its content in products would help solve the problem - companies would choose safe banks.
We informed the baby food producers about the results. Wimm-Bill-Dann questioned the provided figures and refused to comment on them. Yevgenia Lampadova, press secretary of the Unimilk company, said: “The main task of the company is to produce high quality and useful products. We take a responsible approach to business, realizing that all segments of the population are consumers of our products, therefore, in its production, and especially for baby food, we use only high-quality raw materials, ingredients and packaging materials. Puree "Tema" is packed in a tin can made of materials approved by the Rospotrebnadzor (we have sanitary and epidemiological certificates) for baby food. It is difficult to comment on the conclusions of the examination, since we were not provided with the research protocols.
While there is no official control over bisphenol in products, we have to choose canned food in glass containers - it is the safest and most expensive. By the way, there is no less bisphenol in canned adults.
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The first to synthesize bisphenol A (BPA) in 1891 was Alexander Dianin, a Russian chemist, father-in-law and executor of A. Borodin, another famous chemist and also a genius composer. BPA has long been called the "Dianin substance" all over the world, but it has not been used. In the 1930s, the famous English chemist Sir Edward Charles Dodds remembered him, creating drugs that act like the female hormones estrogen. He discovered similar properties in BPA and considered the possibility of its use in this capacity. But then bisphenol lost, and another synthetic estrogen, DES (diethylstilbestrol), became a revolutionary drug. Can you imagine if BFA won? The glory of a killer drug that causes cancer and deformities in children would await him. So, all this happened with DES:30 years later, a scandal erupted - the drug caused harm to millions of women and children (it was often prescribed during pregnancy). The BPA renaissance came in the 1950s and 1960s - it came in handy for plastics and epoxy resins. At first, chemists successfully quenched scandals around its insecurity, but it seems that we are approaching, if not a ban, then a serious restriction on the use of BPA.