Plastic Food Containers Still Potentially Harmful
Scientists announced this week new evidence that small quantities of bisphenol, or BPA, a widely used chemical used to make plastic food and drinking containers, can harm the brain function in primates, which extends the previous discovery of research behavior in rats.
Whether any amount of the chemical that leaches from containers into food signifies an environmental hazard is a controversial subject.
Study investigator Tibor Hajszan said in a press release from the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut that "Our primate model indicates that BPA could negatively affect brain function in humans."
Hajszan and colleagues observed the power of incessant exposure to BPA at a daily dose on behalf of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s reference harmless limit per day or 50 micrograms per kilogram, present in adolescent African green monkeys.
In a report this week, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the BPA completely eliminated the configuration of several nerve connections in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, two regions of the brain.
"Based on these findings, we think the EPA may wish to consider lowering its ‘safe daily limit’ for human BPA consumption," Hajszan continues.
These scientific discoveries have "profound implications," the investigators uphold. These remain significant based on the critical role of the nerve connections in cognition and mood.
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