Bisphenol-A: Bad for You, Bad for Lobsters

By now, bisphenol-A (BPA) news is, well, old news. Media outlets point out the hormone-disrupting chemical's growing presence, with BPA turning up in everything from canned foods to baby bottles to credit card receipts. Countless studies link the chemical to disorders like obesity, infertility, early onset of puberty, learning disabilities and neurological impairment, thyroid problems, diabetes, and prostate and breast cancer. Bad news about BPA is becoming as ubiquitous as the chemical itself.

But here's something you probably didn't know: BPA isn't just problematic for humans. It harms lobsters, too. According to a story in The Day, University of Connecticut researcher Hans Laufer recently studied how four chemicals found in plastics and detergents (one of which was BPA) affect lobsters found in Long Island Sound and southern New England waters. Laufer found that lobsters exposed to BPA and other alkylphenols were more likely to develop shell disease, a disorder where lobsters' shells are weakened, leaving them vulnerable to bacterial infection. BPA exposure also boosted the likelihood of abnormal growth and development among young lobsters, and caused increased egg death.

Crustacean-loving diners are surely bummed out by the study — nothing tastes more like summer than the sweet, succulent meat of a freshly steamed, local lobster. But BPA's impact on lobsters may be a sign of bigger problems for the ocean. According to Laufer, about 60 percent of the one million tons of BPA produced annually winds up in the sea. If BPA's bringing down lobsters, it stands to reason it may be impacting other marine critters, too.

As I said earlier, this lobster situation is just one little piece in a growing pile of evidence showcasing BPA's harmful effects. So it's kind of surprising, then, that the presence of this chemical in everyday consumer products is so slow to decline. Only eight states have enacted BPA bans, and the laws mostly just apply to baby or children's products. It's great that these state laws make items safer for kids — youngsters do carry the highest BPA levels of anyone else — but let's not forget that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BPA is found in 93 percent of Americans. Kids need protections, but what about the rest of us?

That's where federal legislation should come in. While a handful of states enacted laws regulating BPA, there's no federal legislation protecting consumers against BPA's health risks. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) recently recommended adding a ban on BPA in food packaging to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. The proposed amendment has caused so much controversy it threatens to scrap the Food Safety Modernization Act altogether.

It's time for lawmakers and government agencies to stop pandering to food and consumer product manufacturers and start caring about consumer health. True, the human health risks of BPA exposure haven't prompted feds to take a serious stance against the chemical. Maybe this news about seafood will bring about the sea change we really need.

Photo credit: schooner guest via Wikimedia Commons