Replace BPA-containing water bottles and sippy cups with glass, metal or ceramic; cut back on canned food; favor nonplastic food and beverage containers.

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RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—A new study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that higher levels of the chemical bisphenol ABisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical produced in large quantities for use primarily in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. (BPA) in people’s urine were associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and liver problems. People with the highest BPA levels were twice as likely to suffer from diabetes or cardiovascular problems than those with lower levels.

THE DETAILS: Found in those hard-plastic water bottles we all carry, BPA is also used in the lining of some soda, food, and baby-formula cans. The hormonelike chemical has been linked to genital abnormalities, early puberty, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and fertility problems in hundreds of animal studies. This latest study examined data previously collected from 1,455 adults between 18 and 74 years old. The study comes on the heels of a report from the National Institutes of Health’s National Toxicology Program (NTP), which warns that BPA is a cause for “some concern” due to possible effects on the behavior, brain, and prostate gland of children, babies, and fetuses.Around the same time, Yale University researchers released other discomforting findings: BPA levels dubbed “safe” for humans by the Environmental Protection Agency caused brain-function trouble and mood disorders in monkeys. “Given the similarity of monkeys to humans, it raises very clear concerns for human development,” says Phil Landrigan, MD, Ethel Wise Professor and Chair of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The Food and Drug Administration continues to call the chemical safe, citing chemical-industry studies, despite the findings of its fellow government agency, NTP.