Recently my kettle became unreliable and being kettle-less isn’t an option for an avid tea drinker like me. I became alerted to BPA when I noticed many kettles that were labelled ‘BPA free’ and looked BPA up!
BPA is short for Bisphenol-A – and is found in many plastics it is clear and durable, and common in water bottles, shop receipts, tin can lining, food containers and yes even kettles. In the body it has been shown to disrupt oestrogen and promote breast, ovary and prostate cancers. “One study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detected BPA in the urine of 93% of a group of 2,517 people”*. BPA is not soluble in water unless the water is heated above 70 degrees, or the plastic is old or scratched. Only plastics labelled 3 or 7 are likely to contain BPA but some plastics aren’t labelled. More research revealed that some of my favourite tea bags contained BPA’s.
Several alarm bells were ringing in my head:
1. My unreliable kettle was made of plastic and heated water above 70 degrees which I then drank.
2. Plastic water bottles were the source of most of my water.
3. BPA levels in urine are tested – so the bladder must have extensive exposure.
4. Anything cancer promoting is NEVER good news.
I immediately started drinking filtered tap water, bought a BPA free kettle, avoided heating plastic and weeded out BPA containing tea bags.
The amount of contaminated tea and water I was drinking must have significantly increased the evil effects BPA was having on my system and particularly my bladder. Could there be a correlation between these plastics and my recurrences???
I don’t imagine I can totally eradicate BPA but I’m very sure I have been successful in reducing my exposure and I’ll definitely keep at it. Next up cans and receipts!
Please beware and be aware of potential evil effects of BPA on your health.
*https://www.roswellpark.org/cancertalk/201911/worries-about-bpa-how-reduce-your-exposure
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