130: BPA Safety During Pregnancy & for Your Baby
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Episode 130 Content and Overview
BPA is short for bisphenol A, and this is an industrial chemical used in plastics. This is not a new chemical, BPA was first synthesized in 1891 and beginning in the 1950s this chemical was used in polycarbonate plastics which are used in a lot of food and drink packaging. BPA is also used in epoxy resins, like the coatings you find inside of most canned food, bottle tops. Some other unexpected places you may find BPA is in receipts, movie tickets, and even baby toys. Exposure to BPA is a concern because it is an endocrine disruptor. Your endocrine system is your hormone system and BPA disrupts this by mimicing estrogen. You know hormones are a big deal, especially for pregnancy and hormones drive practically every process in your body. Listen to this episode to learn how BPA can affect you and your baby, whether it is something you should be aviding, and how you can reduce your expsoure to it during your pregnancy and after your baby is born.
Included in This Episode
- Environmental Working Group Dirty Dozen Endocrine Disruptors
- FDA 2014 Updated Safety Assessment of Bisphenol A (BPA) for use in food contact applications
- How your body processes BPA
- Does BPA cross the placenta?
- Phthalate metabolites and bisphenol-A in association with circulating angiogenic biomarkers across pregnancy
- Does BPA transfer to or baby through breast milk?
- Bisphenol A – Application, Sources of Exposure and Potential Risks in Infants, Children and Pregnant Women
- Bisphenol-A Treatment During Pregnancy in Mice: A New Window of Susceptibility for the Development of Diabetes in Mothers Later in Life
- Late Pregnancy is a Vulnerable Period for Exposure to BPA
- Exposure to bisphenol A during pregnancy and child neuropsychological development in the INMA-Sabadell cohort
- Bisphenol A and Adiposity in an Inner-City Birth Cohort
- Sources of Bisphenol A
- Polycarbonate plastics
- Baby bottles and sippy cups
- Infant formula packaging
- FDA information on BPA
- BPF (Bisphenol F) and BPS (Bisphenol S)
- A new chapter in the bisphenol A story: bisphenol S and bisphenol F are not safe alternatives to this compound
- Single use bottles of water
- My favorite water bottle
- Hydroflask makes the best water bottles, I am obsessed with my water bottle and take mine everywhere. It keeps water cold for almost 24 hours, and while it is not the cheapest it is a worthwhile investment. I recently bought a 12-ounce bottle for coffee and love that too.
- Canned food and drinks
- Thermal printer paper and receipts
- Toys and household items
- Tips to limit your exposure
- National Geographic Planet or Plastic?
- Mommy Steps makes insoles specifically for pregnancy. They have insoles for athletic shoes and ones for flats or boots. You can even heat them in your oven and mold them to your own feet to make you more comfortable and to prevent foot issues during pregnancy. Mommy Steps is offering an exclusive 20% off for listeners of the Pregnancy Podcast. Click here to check them out and enter the promo code FEET when you checkout.
- Zahler makes a high quality prenatal vitamin that has the active form of folate plus omega 3s and DHA. This is my favorite prenatal vitamin, the one I take everyday and the one I recommend to all expecting moms. Zahler is offering an exclusive discount to listeners of the Pregnancy Podcast. To check out the vitamin and find out how you can save 25% when you buy a one month supply on Amazon click this link Zahler Prenatal + DHA.