You might have noticed the many ‘BPA Free’ comments on labels. There is a reason for this. The abbreviation BPA refers to bisphenol A. This is a chemical used in various industrial applications. BPA is also found in many household plastics found around the home as it is used in the manufacture of plastics.
Products and food come in contact with BPA when it is stored in a plastic container with it. However, there are reasons to believe that BPA is not good for human health.
Why is BPA bad for our health?
The continuous intake of the BPA is likely to cause issues with the hormone estrogen as BPA enters the body and starts behaving like estrogen itself. When this happens, other things such as cell development, growth in the body and chances of reproduction can be adversely affected.
BPA can also affect thyroid hormones. BPA is an obstacle to the receptors of hormones in the body. This leads to a change in the function of those hormones.
The FDA also cautions that BPA when ingested by infants and young children there is the potential for changes in the brain. Luckily, most reputable brands for children avoid BPA in their products.
How does BPA end up in products?
 As earlier stated, most plastics that are produced today are made from the likes of BPA. Subsequently, these plastic containers would be used to store food and other items in this house. This substance would trickle into the stored food and would thus enter your body through the various foods which have been stored. Â
Where can BPA be found?
BPA can be found in virtually any product you have in your home. Unfortunately, since this is not an ingredient per se, it might not be obvious where it lurks. Anything that has been stored in plastics, toiletries, the lenses of glasses, various sports equipment, foods that have been canned and many others. It is thus very important that you take care to understand how to recognize the BPA substance in any product which you have done.
How to identify which products have been exposed to BPA
You can easily identify any plastic which has BPA through the use of the number 7 usually engraved on the bottom of a plastic container. Other ways in which you can identify them include the use of terms like unbreakable. Also, if plastic or any item is said to be microwave safe, it is very likely that this plastic can contain BPA.
You can avoid this problem by using glass containers or stainless steel as an alternative for storage.