Premium
BPA leaching in baby bottles upon microwave heating: a simulation of real food conditions
Author(s) -
Tarasenko Alexandra,
Benitez Benedetta Sampoli
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.969.12
Subject(s) - bottle , bisphenol a , leaching (pedology) , chemistry , food science , endocrine disruptor , polycarbonate , environmental chemistry , environmental science , materials science , endocrine system , organic chemistry , biochemistry , hormone , soil science , epoxy , composite material , soil water
Bisphenol‐A (BPA), commonly found in polycarbonate plastics, has long been suspected to behave as an endocrine disruptor at concentrations well below toxic levels. Recent studies concluded that children drinking from polycarbonate bottles are exposed to enough BPA to cause serious health concerns. Many of the studies use food simulants (such as ethanol) to mimic real foods. However, we employed an ELISA test that can be used directly on different liquids ready for consumption. This study looks at the amount of BPA leached upon microwave heating into milk, infant formula and fruit juices. Previous experiments showed that BPA leached more into water than in milk, suggesting that fat concentration affects the amount of BPA absorbed by the liquid. The samples were tested using different PC containers, including a used PC baby bottle, a used BPA‐free baby bottle and a new PBA‐free baby bottle. The bottle not marketed BPA‐free had leached a significantly higher amount than the now produced BPA‐free bottles, indicating an improvement in the production of polycarbonate bottles. The amount of BPA leaching into actual food will be compared to the leaching into the commonly used simulant for that food to determine if this is an accurate way of testing BPA leaching. This research was supported by the Geraldine Ferraro Center for Educational Excellence in Science, Technology and Mathematics.