Links to all references can be found at the end of the lesson
Table of Contents
In the late 19th Century, a Russian chemist named Aleksandr Dianin discovered a new chemical we now call Bisphenol A.
You may have heard of it under the name of “BPA.” [1.1]
BPA Molecule
Because of its suspected estrogenic properties, it did not take long for BPA to catch the eye of British biochemist Sir Charles Dodds, who, in the 1930’s, was hoping to create a synthetic “super-estrogen.”
Alas, BPA did not make the cut.
Instead, Dodds thought he hit the jackpot when he discovered diethylstilbestrol (DES), a chemical compound that seemed much more potent and promising… but ended up causing transgenerational cancer and unsought abortion to the women who took it.
The resulting endocrinological horror of this experiment was shared in a book by Robert Meyers titled “DES: The Bitter Pill; How medical indifference turned a “miracle” drug into a national nightmare”. [2.1]
But anyway—back to BPA.
Though BPA is not nearly as potent as DES, it also has estrogenic effects on our bodies. That is why it is classified as a xenoestrogen, meaning, a xenohormone (i.e., environmental hormone; not produced by the organism in which it acts) that imitates estrogen. [3.1]
In simple terms: it’s a foreign molecule your body “thinks” is estrogen.
Here’s where it gets ugly:
BPA playground
It was later discovered that BPA has interesting chemical properties that allow plastic manufacturers to strengthen their materials.
And so, BPA began to be used all around the world to make all sorts of plastics… without thinking twice about the estrogenic dangers this could cause down the line.
In just over a century, BPA has gone from being the result of an isolated experiment inside a Russian lab to the very fabric of millions of tons of polycarbonates (i.e., plastics) worldwide, including all sorts of packaging, water bottles, baby bottles, Tupperware, straws, food cans (they are coated with it inside), clothes, menstrual products, store receipts, dental fillings, and of course, tap water. [4.1-3]
Everywhere you look, this sneaky xenohormone seems to already be there, waiting to pose as an estrogen…
[The adverse health effects of bisphenol A and related toxicity mechanisms](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/a8689aLrL7EN3lVVFKZWlovdTKkVqVabHQT193qEJiQE9haTczSntVIhEp7o3sClm9ZE1xQf-F9JOu8LOjIMfuCUzC8yyL24GEddUYXsIRseSvC4As0Sl-Il_B14tfmQmSKSNKgZfaM6ukdY64pIdh0)
The adverse health effects of bisphenol A and related toxicity mechanisms