SUNDAY NOV 11, 2007 (Foodconsumer.org) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did a survey of 2500 U.S. residents recently and found nearly every resident in this country carries bisphenol A (BPA) in their bodies and the highest burden was found in children, The American Chemical Society (ACS) reported Nov. 7 on the website of its Environmental Science and technology journal.

Bisphenol A acts as an endocrine disruptor and studies showed it leads to obesity, depressed growth rates and prostate cancer in animals, according to recent reviews by a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) panel, cited by the ACS.

Bisphenol A is used to make a polymer known as polycarbonates, which are widely used to make many consumer products, including sunglasses , CDs , water and food containers, and shatter-resistant baby bottles, according to wikipedia.com

The survey reported in the October 24, 2007 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives that concentrations of A BPA metabolite in urine ranged from 0.4 to 149 micrograms per liter (ug/L) with the average at 2.6 ul/L.

The no-harm level of BPA was set by the US EPA to be 50 ug/L.   The results of the survey suggest that Americans' exposure to BPA are higher than the no-harm level, Frederick vom Saal, a BPA specialist from University of Missouri Columbia who served on the NIEHS panel was cited as saying.

Studies have showed that the real exposure to BPA would be ten times higher than what the urine level indicates, according to the ACS's report.

The researchers for the survey established that children carry “significantly higher” BPA concentrations than adolescents who in turn have higher levels than adults.    Saal said the findings are also “disturbing in that it confirms without a doubt that the youngest are most at risk."

For details on the adverse effects of this chemical, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A