Many people are unaware that some canned goods may contain questionable doses of the controversial chemical BPA.
A controversial chemical that Health Canada is moving to ban in baby bottles has turned up in tests conducted on cans for foods commonly served to Canadian children.
Tests conducted on the food cans for CTV News and The Globe and Mail shows similar or higher levels of bisphenol A than in baby bottles.
While baby bottles leach about 6 parts per billion of bisphenol A (BPA), the exclusive tests of food cans show:
A can of children's ravioli leached 6 parts per billion.
A can of peas and carrots leached 7 parts per billion.
A can of tomato juice leached 14 parts per billion.
In this study, the first of its kind in Canada, the method of testing used most closely mimics the canning process. Fourteen cans of popular Canadian foods were sent to XenoAnalytical LLC, a laboratory in Columbia, Mo . The cans were emptied of food and rinsed five times before being filled with water and heated for 24 hours at 95 C.
(The food itself from each can could not be accurately tested because other chemicals in the food could interfere with measuring the BPA.)
Studies have shown when cans are heated in the manufacturing process, BPA leaches out of the linings. Foods are first sealed in cans and heated to kill bacteria in the food. Cans are heated to temperatures between 116 C and 121 C, and the length of time varies according to the type of food.
"The tests we did in the cans are fairly conservative," said Julia Taylor, the lab technician that conducted the tests.
"We used water, which is less likely to pull out BPA in a can."
Because these findings show that BPA leached out of the cans and into water, it can be assumed that the chemical is leaching into the food itself when the cans are heated during the pasteurization process, Taylor said.
Environmental Defence, an advocacy group that has long called for a ban on BPA, conducted its own study into BPA levels in plastic baby bottles. It found that many of the bottles, manufactured by popular name brand companies, leached from five to eight parts of BPA per billion when heated.
A controversial chemical that Health Canada is moving to ban in baby bottles has turned up in tests conducted on cans for foods commonly served to Canadian children.
Tests conducted on the food cans for CTV News and The Globe and Mail shows similar or higher levels of bisphenol A than in baby bottles.
While baby bottles leach about 6 parts per billion of bisphenol A (BPA), the exclusive tests of food cans show:
A can of children's ravioli leached 6 parts per billion.
A can of peas and carrots leached 7 parts per billion.
A can of tomato juice leached 14 parts per billion.
In this study, the first of its kind in Canada, the method of testing used most closely mimics the canning process. Fourteen cans of popular Canadian foods were sent to XenoAnalytical LLC, a laboratory in Columbia, Mo . The cans were emptied of food and rinsed five times before being filled with water and heated for 24 hours at 95 C.
(The food itself from each can could not be accurately tested because other chemicals in the food could interfere with measuring the BPA.)
Studies have shown when cans are heated in the manufacturing process, BPA leaches out of the linings. Foods are first sealed in cans and heated to kill bacteria in the food. Cans are heated to temperatures between 116 C and 121 C, and the length of time varies according to the type of food.
"The tests we did in the cans are fairly conservative," said Julia Taylor, the lab technician that conducted the tests.
"We used water, which is less likely to pull out BPA in a can."
Because these findings show that BPA leached out of the cans and into water, it can be assumed that the chemical is leaching into the food itself when the cans are heated during the pasteurization process, Taylor said.
Environmental Defence, an advocacy group that has long called for a ban on BPA, conducted its own study into BPA levels in plastic baby bottles. It found that many of the bottles, manufactured by popular name brand companies, leached from five to eight parts of BPA per billion when heated.
Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence, finds these new results troubling.
"They should be concerning for every Canadian, not just because of the implications for their kids but also what it means for adult Canadians," Smith said. "It turns out that we are marinating in this chemical."
Researchers say the effects of BPA are cumulative in children.
"You can get an exposure from a canned food, also from a drink and from another product," Taylor said. "Little by little these exposures add up to a bigger hit."
Last month, Health Canada announced plans to ban plastic baby bottles that contain BPA and would be moving to restrict the use of BPA in the linings of cans of baby formula. Its own studies on cans of baby formula found BPA levels ranging from 2.3 parts per billion to 10.2 parts per billion.
However, these new findings suggest that the government should be restricting the chemical's use in other canned foods that are popular with children, such as soup and juice, Smith said.
"If Health Canada is really interested in protecting kids, it is time to take that next step and to get this chemical out of tin cans," Smith said.
Health Canada said that by its own assessment, the levels of BPA found in cans pose no risk to adults. However, the government body has started to measure levels of BPA that accumulate in people's bodies.
Industry says results below levels of concern
Research indicates that BPA mimics the effects of the hormone estrogen in the body. In laboratory rats, exposure to the chemical has been associated with decreased sperm production. In developing animals, BPA exposure has been linked to a predisposition to prostate and breast cancer, as well as reproductive problems.
"I don't think we should expose children to chemicals like this unnecessarily," Taylor said.
BPA is used to manufacture many household items, and can be found in hard plastic baby bottles, home electronics, car interiors and the linings of food and beverage cans.
However, the canning industry maintains that the levels of BPA most Canadians are exposed to are safe.
John Rost, chairman of the North American Metal Packing Alliance (NAMPA), responded to these new findings in a statement released to CTV. Rost said that the results are not surprising and represent safe levels of the chemical.
"Based on our review of the testing results provided by CTV, it appears that the BPA levels found in the sample foods and beverages are entirely consistent with the trace levels of BPA we would expect to find in these products," Rost said.
"The trace BPA levels detected are hundreds of times below levels of concern established by Health Canada, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the European Food Safety Authority."
But scientists that study BPA say that even just 25 parts per trillion of the chemical, or a fraction of what was found in the can tests, is enough to adversely affect the health of laboratory animals.
Dr. Ana Soto, an endocrinologist at Tufts University in Massachusetts, said no one really knows for sure what constitutes a safe level of BPA.
"Governments cannot say that they know that there is a dose that is safe," said Soto.
"They cannot say that today because we don't know that as scientists, so they don't know that either."
One American company has already started putting its products in BPA-free cans.
Eden Foods, a natural food company, switched to BPA-free cans in 1999. Before then, Eden Foods President Michael Potter had asked can manufacturers about chemicals in the linings, but his queries were rebuffed. He was also assured that BPA wasn't harmful, despite hearing rumblings out of Europe that questioned the safety of the chemical.
"I have children and grandchildren, and I would like to feel proud about giving them the foods Eden Foods puts together," Potter said.
Note: This testing also included two beer cans and found they leached between 8 and 9 parts per billion of BPA. As well, a can of apple juice leached 18 parts per billion.
However, because beer and apple juice are not heated to as high a temperature as other foods during the pasteurization process, they are usually tested at lower temperatures.
In fact, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's Quality Assurance division conducted its own tests on beer cans and wine bottles and found only negligible amounts of BPA.
See the links at right for the full study, as well as the responses from companies cited in the findings.
Based on a report by CTV's medical specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip
Procedural information for testing
Cans were analyzed for leaching of bisphenol A (BP A) into hot water by HPLC with CoulArray detection. The standard curve in our assay ranges from 0.05 - 4 nanograms per HPLC run. For analysis of BPA in 1 liter of water after solid phase extraction, this results in a limit of quantitation of 2.5 parts per trillion (2.5 pg/ml). Values below and above the range of the standard curve are outside the limit of quantitation of the assay. Samples labeled as "non detectable (ND)" indicates that there was no evidence for the presence of BPA in the sample.
In more detail, cans were rinsed five times with chlorine-free water, and then filled with water and incubated for 24 hours at 95oC. Water in glass bottles, either untreated or spiked with BPA, were run as negative and positive controls, respectively. After the 24-hour incubation, the samples were concentrated using C18 Sep-pak vac cartridges. The eluted bisphenol A was passed through an NH2 cartridge and then quantified using HPLC with CoulArray detection.
"They should be concerning for every Canadian, not just because of the implications for their kids but also what it means for adult Canadians," Smith said. "It turns out that we are marinating in this chemical."
Researchers say the effects of BPA are cumulative in children.
"You can get an exposure from a canned food, also from a drink and from another product," Taylor said. "Little by little these exposures add up to a bigger hit."
Last month, Health Canada announced plans to ban plastic baby bottles that contain BPA and would be moving to restrict the use of BPA in the linings of cans of baby formula. Its own studies on cans of baby formula found BPA levels ranging from 2.3 parts per billion to 10.2 parts per billion.
However, these new findings suggest that the government should be restricting the chemical's use in other canned foods that are popular with children, such as soup and juice, Smith said.
"If Health Canada is really interested in protecting kids, it is time to take that next step and to get this chemical out of tin cans," Smith said.
Health Canada said that by its own assessment, the levels of BPA found in cans pose no risk to adults. However, the government body has started to measure levels of BPA that accumulate in people's bodies.
Industry says results below levels of concern
Research indicates that BPA mimics the effects of the hormone estrogen in the body. In laboratory rats, exposure to the chemical has been associated with decreased sperm production. In developing animals, BPA exposure has been linked to a predisposition to prostate and breast cancer, as well as reproductive problems.
"I don't think we should expose children to chemicals like this unnecessarily," Taylor said.
BPA is used to manufacture many household items, and can be found in hard plastic baby bottles, home electronics, car interiors and the linings of food and beverage cans.
However, the canning industry maintains that the levels of BPA most Canadians are exposed to are safe.
John Rost, chairman of the North American Metal Packing Alliance (NAMPA), responded to these new findings in a statement released to CTV. Rost said that the results are not surprising and represent safe levels of the chemical.
"Based on our review of the testing results provided by CTV, it appears that the BPA levels found in the sample foods and beverages are entirely consistent with the trace levels of BPA we would expect to find in these products," Rost said.
"The trace BPA levels detected are hundreds of times below levels of concern established by Health Canada, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the European Food Safety Authority."
But scientists that study BPA say that even just 25 parts per trillion of the chemical, or a fraction of what was found in the can tests, is enough to adversely affect the health of laboratory animals.
Dr. Ana Soto, an endocrinologist at Tufts University in Massachusetts, said no one really knows for sure what constitutes a safe level of BPA.
"Governments cannot say that they know that there is a dose that is safe," said Soto.
"They cannot say that today because we don't know that as scientists, so they don't know that either."
One American company has already started putting its products in BPA-free cans.
Eden Foods, a natural food company, switched to BPA-free cans in 1999. Before then, Eden Foods President Michael Potter had asked can manufacturers about chemicals in the linings, but his queries were rebuffed. He was also assured that BPA wasn't harmful, despite hearing rumblings out of Europe that questioned the safety of the chemical.
"I have children and grandchildren, and I would like to feel proud about giving them the foods Eden Foods puts together," Potter said.
Note: This testing also included two beer cans and found they leached between 8 and 9 parts per billion of BPA. As well, a can of apple juice leached 18 parts per billion.
However, because beer and apple juice are not heated to as high a temperature as other foods during the pasteurization process, they are usually tested at lower temperatures.
In fact, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's Quality Assurance division conducted its own tests on beer cans and wine bottles and found only negligible amounts of BPA.
See the links at right for the full study, as well as the responses from companies cited in the findings.
Based on a report by CTV's medical specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip
Procedural information for testing
Cans were analyzed for leaching of bisphenol A (BP A) into hot water by HPLC with CoulArray detection. The standard curve in our assay ranges from 0.05 - 4 nanograms per HPLC run. For analysis of BPA in 1 liter of water after solid phase extraction, this results in a limit of quantitation of 2.5 parts per trillion (2.5 pg/ml). Values below and above the range of the standard curve are outside the limit of quantitation of the assay. Samples labeled as "non detectable (ND)" indicates that there was no evidence for the presence of BPA in the sample.
In more detail, cans were rinsed five times with chlorine-free water, and then filled with water and incubated for 24 hours at 95oC. Water in glass bottles, either untreated or spiked with BPA, were run as negative and positive controls, respectively. After the 24-hour incubation, the samples were concentrated using C18 Sep-pak vac cartridges. The eluted bisphenol A was passed through an NH2 cartridge and then quantified using HPLC with CoulArray detection.
Karen Langston 1-877-215-6824 karen@iamworthit2.com
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