Remember a few years back when BPA-ridden plastics and canned goods officially made it onto the no-no list after studies found it interfered with human hormones? Now, new research suggests that the chemicals used to replace BPA in products could be just as bad for your health.
A new study published Thursday in the Journal of the Endocrine Society found that the chemicals bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF), used to replace BPA (bisphenol A) in products like the lining of cans and receipt paper, are just as bad as BPA.
The two replacement chemicals now appeared tied to increased odds of childhood obesity and other health effects.
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"This research is significant because exposure to these chemicals is very common in the United States. BPS and BPF use is growing because manufacturers are replacing BPA with these chemicals, so that is contributing to the frequency of exposure," said the study’s author, Melanie Jacobson, Ph.D, in the release. "Although diet and exercise are still understood to the main drivers of obesity, this research suggests that common chemical exposures may also play a role, specifically among children,” Jacobson continued.
Researchers from New York University called upon data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys to look at the relationship between BPA, BPS, and BPF and “body mass outcomes” in children and adolescents ages 6 to 19.
From that data, the team extracted that kids with higher levels of these chemicals in their urine were more likely to be obese, compared to kids with lower levels, the release states.
“Replacing BPA with similar chemicals does nothing to mitigate the harms chemical exposure has on our health," Jacobson explains.