BPA, or Bisphenol A, can be harmful to your health. BPA can cause breast cancer in women, low sperm counts in men and hyperactivity in young children and even infants. However, you might be surprised to find out that BPA is used in many products that you use daily. Because studies are still being done, though, you may not know as much as you should about where you can find BPA in your home and what you can do to make sure that you're not getting too much in your system. Here are 3 of the surprising sources of BPA:
1. Canned Goods
Many canned goods contain food that is acidic. Because of the acid that's present in some types of fruits and vegetables, food companies need to protect the aluminum cans to prevent them from getting damaged over time. This is one of the most common uses of BPA. It's used on the inside of aluminum cans to serve as a shield between the food and the can. As a result, you're ingesting high levels of BPA every day if you eat canned foods. Try buying fresh fruits and vegetables and only using canned goods in emergency situations.
2. Plastic Containers
Though not all plastic containers are made using BPA, there are a large number of them that are still created using it. BPA is present in certain types of plastic containers, and many of them are used to either store food or eat food from. If you are using plastic containers made from BPA, you could be taking it into your body every time that you use them. You could actually be helping to increase the amount of BPA that you take in by heating food up in these containers or running them through to dishwasher to clean them. Some studies have shown that heating these products up causes higher levels of BPA.
3. Baby Bottles
If you're not careful, you could be using baby bottles made with BPA. The BPA in baby bottles is even more dangerous if they are used to heat up formula or breast milk. To avoid using baby bottles made from BPA, check all labels before purchasing them.
How to Avoid BPA
Though it's present in a number of everyday items, there is a fairly simple way to see if they have traces of BPA in them. Most plastic containers come stamped with a recycling code on them. If your plastic container has the number 7 on the bottom of it with a triangle surrounding the number, there's a good chance it's made from BPA. Look for plastic containers stamped with a two or a five on them, as these do not contain BPA. The only way to avoid BPA altogether is to get more educated about how it affects you and where you can find it. Then do your best to avoid using any products that contain even small amounts of BPA.
