Bisphenol+A

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=Backround=

Bisphenol A (B.P.A) is a chemical building block for making polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. BPA is used in plastic bottles, things that include digital media (CDs and DVDs) electronic equipment, safety equipment, automobiles, and reusable food and drink products, among many others. The reason they use this is because lightweight, high-performance plastic that possesses a unique balance of toughness, optical clarity, high heat resistance, and electrical resistance. There is no other material as unique as polycarbonate plastics and to make this unique material you need Bisphenol A and epoxy resins.

Bisphenol A was first found in 1891 and investigated into in the 1930’s. It turned out to be a powerful estrogen. It was synthesized in 1905 and was first used as a synthetic estrogen until the 1930’s, and then they started to use it as a monomer in polycarbonate plastics. To give you an idea as to how much B.P.A is produced a year, in 2002 an estimated 2.8 million tons was produced globally. It also is used all over the world and hasn’t been banned or restricted anywhere.

A good thing about Bisphenol has been researched for about 4 decades and BPA shows no signs and pose no threats to the people that use it. It has been studied for about 40 years and the U.S F.D.A and international agencies approve of the use of this product. In 2005 the Food and Drug association on the safety of food products said “based on all the evidence available at this time, FDA sees no reason to change its long-held position that current uses of food are safe.” The Japanese also researched this and in March 2005 they’re Ministry of Environmental reported that there is no endocrine disrupting effects at low doses and no regulations are required for the product. They found this out after performing research on animals.

=Human health implications= Bisphenol A can be harmful to humans though it hasn’t been fully proven to be reports show that it might be. There was a controversy over bottles and five lawsuits were against baby bottle manufacturing companies. Factories claim that low does of BPA are harmless to people but scientists are getting more and more evidence to prove them wrong. An expert government panel found that Bisphenol A could cause neural and behavioral problems before and after birth. So this is affecting babies even before they are born and continues to affect them afterward. Also the baby bottles are even more dangerous when heated, like when you go to heat the milk to make warm milk. BPA can even be ingested by us, scary isn’t it? Not only babies but everyone is affected by it, 95% of people tested had been exposed to BPA. =Environmental Implications= This is defiantly not as bad to the environment as one would think because plastics are 100% recyclable. The only thing where this is harmful to the environment is people that don’t recycle and throw bottles into the ground or in the ocean because then fish try to eat them and die. Also while in the ground plastic almost never fully dissolves, it takes years and even then you’ll still find it. Another thing is when bottles are burned all those chemicals made into it including Bisphenol A are released into the air. You shouldn’t be that close to a burning plastic bottle because it is hazardous to your health to breath in those burning chemicals.

=Synthesis & Production=

Bisphenol A is made in a singe crystallization stage, using a catalyst to combine Phenol with Acetone thus creating Bisphenol A and Phenol. Then you if necessary, remove the Phenol and add solvent then heat it to obtain pure Bisphenol A in crystal form.

=Economic and Political Growth=

First of all, Bisphenol A is used to make plastics so plastics might not be the same as they once were. And it might be a little more to use substitutes. The only way this will affect politics is because governors and anyone running will try to use banning to help them win. = = =Summary=

If Bisphenol A is taken out of plastic bottles then they will need to use substitutes, which might cost a little more. That should be enough reason though because Bisphenol A isn’t proven but has signs that show it is dangerous. The benefit would be that this harmful chemical won’t be in plastic bottles or canned foods and that would be one less problem we would have to worry about. These actions are defiantly necessary and I found sites that are working to ban this product, all we need is for more people to know and care. With numbers their lies power, the power to change thing’s to the way the people think it should be. = = =Abstract=

Bisphenol A was first found in 1891 and investigated into in the 1930’s. It turned out to be a powerful estrogen. It was synthesized in 1905 and was first used as a synthetic estrogen until the 1930’s, and then they started to use it as a monomer in polycarbonate plastics. Bisphenol A (B.P.A) is a chemical building block for making polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. BPA is used in plastic bottles, things that include digital media (CDs and DVDs) electronic equipment, safety equipment, automobiles, and reusable food and drink products, among many others. The reason they use this is because lightweight, high-performance plastic that possesses a unique balance of toughness, optical clarity, high heat resistance, and electrical resistance. As for it’s safety well that’s a different story. If you can’t inhale it as it burns it’s dangerous to your health. And well you can’t inhale the smoke that comes from bottles as they burn. You digest Bisphenol A and it’s not proven but there is evidence that shows that it can be harmful to you.

Bisphenol A can be harmful to humans though it hasn’t been fully proven to be reports show that it might be. There is still much controversy over this because people don’t want for it to be gotten rid of. People like in the government doing favors because favors had been done for them, or the company’s themselves. It can also affect hormones in babies and when it’s even in the baby bottles it’s not to hard to find it’s way to a baby’s mouth. The bottles are 100% recyclable but if not recycled can be harmful to the environment. Like when thrown into an ocean fish can eat it and choke or when buried under the dirt plastic bottles take almost forever to degrade over the years. Economically this would only cost the plastic bottle business a little more, but it’s worth it. Politically this chemical is causing enough controversy between the government and people who are trying to ban it.

In my opinion, the chemical should just be banned, it’s causing enough controversy that in a little bit it should give the government a headache. Also it’s not worth the risk, there are too many innocent people on the line. I mean everyone uses plastic bottles or canned goods for anything and if there are substitutes they should be used. Instead companies are taking the easy way out and taking the chance that they can harm us. The company should try to start to make plastic bottles different ways and they may find a suitable outcome that isn’t harmful and isn’t that costly. But either way the companies should have to start trying to do something, right now they are just sitting back and collecting their checks.

Author: Alexander Cotellessa = =