BPA

When buying products, reading labels may be one of the best ways to figure out if something contains chemicals that you'd rather avoid. But a study released earlier this year found chemicals in many everyday products that may increase your risk of developing cancer or disrupt reproduction, and many of those chemicals weren't listed on product labels. As October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we wanted to revisit the findings of the study to help make us more aware of hidden risks.

Partly funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, tested 213 commercial products in 50 different categories. The study included many popular consumer products, including "alternative" products marketed as being safer and more eco-friendly.

The results were worrying; the study found that the products contained high levels of chemicals that have been linked to higher breast cancer risk, reproduction and growth problems, and asthma — even in those alternative products thought to be safer — including BPA, parabens, glycol ether, triclosan, and synthetic fragrances. And since many of these chemicals weren't listed on product labels, it can be hard for people to tell how much of a possibly unsafe chemical is in their favorite brands.

Want to know which types of products to try to avoid? Read on for the list.

With the BPA scare of '08, just about everyone I know ditched their plastic water bottles for a Klean Kanteen, Lifefactory, or BPA-free Nalgene. Reusable water bottles aren't the only things to be wary of — there's BPA lurking in other everyday products. Although the FDA believes low levels of BPA exposure aren't harmful to people, it's not clear how much exposure that means. To minimize your contact with BPA as much as possible, start with these foods.

Canned Foods
Canned beans, tuna, tomatoes, and soup — these foods are generally healthy, but unfortunately most of the cans they come in are lined with plastic containing BPA. To compound the issue, acidic foods (like tomatoes) can break down the plastic, leaching BPA. In addition, any heat exposure during food processing can also break down the plastic. Organics company Eden makes a BPA-free can, and other brands like Fig Food Company offer boxed beans and soups. In general, look for food packaged in BPA-free pouches, boxes, and glassware.

Soda and Other Canned Beverages
Yep, aluminum-canned beverages are also lined with BPA-containing plastic. Since the acid and alcohol in beer can make leaching more likely, choose glass containers when possible. Canned seltzer like Polar also contains low levels of BPA in their lining, so if it makes you feel more comfortable, choose its BPA-free plastic bottles instead or invest in a seltzer maker.

Watercooler
Pour yourself a glass of H20 from the watercooler and think you're doing your body good? Unfortunately those enormous plastic jugs contain BPA. Whenever possible, fill a reusable bottle at home with filtered water instead.

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Is your food loaded with toxins and chemicals? Here, simple swaps to protect yourself
By Anne Underwood

Clean eating means choosing fruits, vegetables, and meats that are raised, grown, and sold with minimal processing.

Often they're organic, and rarely (if ever) should they contain additives. But in some cases, the methods of today's food producers are neither clean nor sustainable. The result is damage to our health, the environment, or both. So we decided to take a fresh look at food through the eyes of the people who spend their lives uncovering what's safe — or not — to eat. We asked them a simple question: "What foods do you avoid?" Their answers don't necessarily make up a "banned foods" list. But reaching for the suggested alternatives might bring you better health — and peace of mind.

The Best Packaged Foods to Shop For

1. Canned Tomatoes

Fredrick Vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A, gives us the scoop:

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi.

Budget tip: If your recipe allows, substitute bottled pasta sauce for canned tomatoes. Look for pasta sauces with low sodium and few added ingredients, or you may have to adjust the recipe.

Low-Sodium Alternative Dinner Options

Keep reading to three more foods to avoid.

BPA (bisphenol A) is bad news. Animal studies of this chemical, which used to be found in many reusable plastic water bottles, links high levels of BPA to cancer, heart disease, and early puberty. BPA-free bottles have replaced reusable plastic water bottles and baby bottles, but BPA is also used in the lining of canned foods. A recent Harvard study found that after participants ate a serving of canned foods once a day, five days in a row, their levels of BPA rose 10 times.

As a vegetarian, I've been living on canned beans since they're so convenient. But now I feel they're unsafe to eat, especially for my 1-year-old. If canned beans are a staple in your diet, here are three BPA-free alternatives.

• Go with Eden: This brand of organic canned beans specifically says on the label, "bisphenol A-free can lining." Don't assume that all "healthy brands" are BPA-free. I emailed Westbrae, and at this time, the linings of their cans do contain BPA.

Continue reading for two more BPA-free alternatives to canned beans.

It's a grimy world out there, but are we fighting bacteria too hard? According to a new study, overuse of antibacterial products can hurt the immune system.

Researchers compared triclosan and BPA antibody levels to allergies or hay fever cases in a sample of US adults and children over age six. Children and teens overexposed to triclosan, an ingredient found in many antibacterial products, were at a higher risk for hay fever and other allergies, while adults exposed to high levels of Bisphenol A (BPA), found in plastics, were also found to have weaker immune systems.

What should you do? Don't throw all your antibacterial products out just yet. The FDA has acknowledged safety concerns over triclosan, but is still studying it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you work soap into a full lather and wash hands for 20 seconds, and use hand sanitizer as backup if a sink isn't available. As for the BPA, invest in BPA-free containers.

Most kids turn out all right! That's something Dr. Mehmet Oz says nervous new parents should be reminded of. It's important to let children live! The cardiac surgeon and author, whose latest book You: Raising Your Child (The Owner's Manual From First Breath to First Grade) ($14) is a must read, speaks from experience, as he is also a father of four! But, I recently had the chance to chat with him about hot topics from vaccines to diapering.

LilSugar: Is the threat of whooping cough a huge issue or a highly publicized issue?
Dr. Mehmet Oz: Well, I'm worried about it. These are Victorian era illnesses that we hadn't seen in a long time. My father who is 85 had siblings who died of Whooping cough — these are not rare events in the 20s and 30s. In NYC, there was a huge outbreak of adults and whooping cough, so I got vaccinated because I'm around patients a lot, and I don't want to give them something that could potentially be lethal to them if they were getting heart surgery. I think it also makes sense for children.

My wife and I were very cautious about vaccines. Lisa is very skeptical of a lot of the information that is in support of vaccines. I tend to believe it because it's my cultural background — to look at the information and tend to trust it, but there's schisms within families like mine (let alone in society). But, I do think that if you make sure your child is healthy when they get the vaccine, keep them nutritionally up-to-date, and keep them sleeping well when they get the vaccine, they will tolerate the inflammatory condition which is caused by a vaccine because there will be some inflammation around it. The majority of kids tolerate vaccines well, and for the majority of their life (if not their entire life), they are then immune from an illness that could be life-threatening. It turns out that whooping cough vaccine does not give you life-long immunity for a lot of people, which is why you have to get revaccinated. Certainly as a child, I would get vaccinated; that's not one of these new color vaccines that people moan and groan about. These are old time vaccines that have been in use before I was born (and I'm 50) with a pretty good track record.

To see Dr. Oz's comments on peanut allergies and the cloth versus disposable diaper debate, read more

Most kids turn out all right! That's something Dr. Mehmet Oz says that nervous new parents should be reminded. It's important to let children live! The cardiac surgeon and author, whose latest book You: Raising Your Child (The Owner's Manual From First Breath to First Grade) ($14) is a must read, speaks from experience, as he is also a father of four! But, I recently had the chance to chat with him about a few important issues that should be of concern.

LilSugar: How conscious should parents be of Bisphenol-A (BPA) and how nervous should we be because it's in so many things from shampoo containers to dishes to bath toys?
Dr. Oz: I'm concerned about it. It's an estrogen disruptor. The younger the child is, the more concerned I am about it. As you get older, I'd probably relax a bit on the stuff because as an adult, it isn't all that important we don't think, but why would you take a chance? So hard plastics, I'd stay away from. Those receipts — those carbon receipts at the store — those have lots of BPA in them. Pay attention to the stuff. The big overarching concept is that you vote with your pocketbook every time you buy these things so if you are willing to buy stuff that isn't carefully prepared for you than people will keep making it! There's usually a reason why they are making it with BPA — it's cheaper.

LilSugar: Would you say BPA is in the top three concerns for a parent of a new baby?
Dr. Oz: Oh, yeah. I'd put it in top three. BPA and phthalates (in the plastics) and probably the hormones and pesticides and chemicals we find in our water and food supply now. I'd probably put those in the top three.

LilSugar: What do you think is the cause behind early on-set puberty?
Dr. Oz: I think the issue with early puberty is two things — obesity and chemicals released into the food supply because of pesticides and because of hormones given to animals. Those are the things I worry about. We throw away our prescription drugs into the toilet usually — we flush them away — but, they don't disappear, they just get dissolved into water. If you look at the water around big cities, there's almost no male fish anymore because there's estrogen compounds in all that junk and fish do not declare their gender until they are already born and maturing so they morph to that and you're getting all these female fish.

Check out other portions of our interview with Dr. Oz here!