Drinking From Aluminum Cans Endangers Kids’ Health

Carl Lowe | Jan 10, 2013 | Comments 0

Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical once used widely in plastic bottles and still found in aluminum cans, is linked to a higher risk of heart and kidney disease in children and adolescents, according to an analysis of national survey data by New York University School of Medicine researchers.

Laboratory studies suggest that even low levels of BPA, like the ones identified in this survey, increase oxidative stress and inflammation that promotes protein leakage into the urine. This leakage is a biomarker for early renal impairment and future risk of developing coronary heart disease, according to researcher Leonardo Trasande.

“While our cross-sectional study cannot definitively confirm that BPA contributes to heart disease or kidney dysfunction in children, together with our previous study of BPA and obesity, this new data adds to already existing concerns about BPA as a contributor to cardiovascular risk in children and adolescents,” says Trasande. “It further supports the call to limit exposure of BPA in this country, especially in children. Removing it from aluminum cans is probably one of the best ways we can limit exposure. There are alternatives that manufacturers can use to line aluminum cans.”

Children in the United States are exposed to the chemical early in life: and surveys have shown that by age 6, nearly 92 percent of children have some trace of BPA in their urine. Its use has been banned altogether in the European Union and Canada, and in the United States for use in baby bottles and sippy cups. Last September, Trasande’s group published a study showing a significant association between obesity and children and adolescents with higher concentrations of BPA in their urine in the Journal of the American Medical Association.