From the Wall Street Journal:

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have linked a chemical found in everyday plastics to problems with brain function and mood disorders in monkeys — the first time the chemical has been connected to health problems in primates.

The study is the latest in an accumulation of research that has raises concerns about bisphenol A, or BPA, a compound that gives a shatterproof quality to polycarbonate plastic and has been found to leach from plastic into food and water.

The Yale study comes as federal toxicologists yesterday reaffirmed an earlier draft report finding that there is “some concern” that bisphenol A can cause developmental problems in the brain and hormonal systems of infants and children.

“There remains considerable uncertainty whether the changes seen in the animal studies are directly applicable to humans, and whether they would result in clear adverse health effects,” John R. Bucher, associate director of the National Toxicology Program, said in a statement. “But we have concluded that the possibility that BPA may affect human development cannot be dismissed.”

If even the Feds now admit it, it must be true.

It makes me wonder whether it could be plastics causing the incredible increase in autism in young children. BPA is found not only in plastic bottles, but also in plastic linings of aluminum cans and all kinds of other things. The hormonal changes from plastics may transfer from a pregnant woman to her unborn child.

I’ve virtually stopped drinking bottled water now, which not only may leach BPA from the container but also is an environmental disaster.  Filtered tap water is probably just as good as pure spring water stored in plastics, and there are lots of alternatives to BPA transportable bottles.  REI has a great article online about choosing a bottle for drinking water, and Nalgene and Camelbak are now making BPA-free bottles.   Still, I think I’m going to go for the stainless bottles, like the Klean Kanteen.  I’m just not so sure that the new BPA-free plastics and other polymers or artificial compounds won’t turn out to have similar properties. 

Saturn in Virgo says let’s go back to nature!!  A simple and more organic lifestyle that nourishes us and helps us take care of the mundane details of life in a body.