Hardly a day goes by that BPA doesn't make it into the news. Whether it's the chemical's link to health conditions, the state and corporate bans on its use, the shocking list of products that actually contain BPA, or the FDA's latest announcement that it has "some concern" about the effects of BPA on children's health, bisphenol A (BPA) is a hot topic in the news.

 

And here's the latest: A new study by University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) researchers has found that a mother's exposure to BPA may also increase the odds that her children will develop asthma. In an experimental animal study, researchers found that the offspring of female mice exposed to BPA showed significant signs of asthma, unlike those of mice shielded from BPA. According to UTMB professor Randall Goldblum, one of the study's authors, "All four of our indicators of asthma response showed up in the BPA group, much more so than in the pups of the nonexposed mice."

 

Back in October, I wrote about a similarly disturbing study in which a mother's prenatal BPA exposure was linked to aggression in her daughters. And I can't help but think that studies like these two are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the effects of prenatal BPA exposure on babies.

 

When I was pregnant with my youngest daughter four years ago, BPA was not even on my radar of toxins to avoid. Lead, chlorine, mercury and nitrates I cautiously avoided, but I had not yet heard of bisphenol A. The case of BPA serves as a prime example for the need to use the precautionary principle in the chemicals and materials that are used to make products in today's society. The basic premise of the precautionary principle: a chemical must be proven to be safe for humans and the environment before it is used in commercial production. This is in contrast to our corrupt modus operandi of introducing chemicals to products and then waiting to see if any adverse health effects can be linked to it.

 

I'm sure this won't be the last study we see regarding BPA exposure and its link to significant health effects. And I don't know about you, but with each new study that comes out, I cringe a little more inside when I think about my own children's prenatal exposure just four short years ago.