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Relieved you switched from plastic drinking bottles to plastic-free metal containers? A new study the Harvard School of Public Health announced May 21 will have you thanking yourself.
Researchers found that exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate and other plastics, may pose a health risk based on evidence that drinking water for a week from the popular hard plastic bottles leads to a two-thirds increase of BPA in their urine, indicating that BPA leaches into liquids held in those bottles.
The study is the first to demonstrate that drinking from polycarbonate bottles increased the level of urinary BPA. Exposure to BPA has been shown to interfere with reproductive development in animals and has been linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes in humans. BPA is also found in dental composites and sealants and the lining of aluminum cans.
The study appears on the website of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives .