Fighting Toxins in the Home

Researchers are continually finding new evidence that common items in our kitchens, bathrooms and toy chests can be toxic.

One of the most insidious substances is bisphenol A, a component of the light plastics used in baby bottles and many other consumer products. Over the past several years, scientists have reported that low levels of bisphenol A can disrupt cell division, leading to spontaneous miscarriages and birth defects such as Down syndrome.
In 2007 a team led by Patricia A. Hunt of Washington Stare University found that small amounts of bisphenol A interfered with the growth of egg cells in developing female mouse embryos. As many as 40 percent of the eggs from fetuses exposed ro bisphenol A had an abnormal number of chromo Thi stunning finding showed that the chemical’s effects can run through three generations: the pregnant mother’s exposure damages the daughter’s reproductive cells, which in turn disrupts the development of the daughter’s own children.
The National Toxicology Program, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, is currentlyreviewing the safety of bisphenol A. in the meantime, some physicians advise pregnant women to avoid drinking water from plastic bottles, especially
once the containers become visibly scratched or scuffed, which may indicate that they are leaching the hazardous chemical.