If you're reading this, chances are you've been exposed to bisphenol A (BPA). A key ingredient in many modern plastics, the chemical compound has been used since the 1940s in everything from baby bottles to goggles to lining for food containers. In recent years, animal studies have demonstrated links between BPA and a host of ill health effects, including breast and prostate cancer.
How did we get to this point? In a nation where dangerous pesticides and PCBs were regulated out of existence decades ago, how does something as widely used and potentially harmful as BPA go unnoticed for so long?
An article by Jerome Groopman in the latest edition of The New Yorker explores the BPA issue, discussing the President's Cancer Panel recommendations calling for more stringent regulation of carcinogens, and providing a balanced look at the the issue of industrial chemicals and human health.
Read the article here.