Washington, May 22 (ANI): Hard plastic drinking bottles and baby bottles are not devoid of health risks because a study has found that the chemical bisphenol A (BPA)-which is used to make plastics and has been linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes-often releases into the liquid contained in such containers.

Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found that participants who drank for a week from polycarbonate bottles showed a two-thirds increase in their urine of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA).

This is the first time that any study has shown that drinking from polycarbonate bottles increases the level of urinary BPA, and that drinking containers made with BPA release the chemical into the liquid that people drink in sufficient amounts.

“We found that drinking cold liquids from polycarbonate bottles for just one week increased urinary BPA levels by more than two-thirds. If you heat those bottles, as is the case with baby bottles, we would expect the levels to be considerably higher. This would be of concern since infants may be particularly susceptible to BPA’s endocrine-disrupting potential,” said senior study author Karin B. Michels, associate professor of epidemiology at HSPH and Harvard Medical School.

First author Jenny Carwile, a doctoral student in the department of epidemiology at HSPH, added: “This study is coming at an important time because many states are deciding whether to ban the use of BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. While previous studies have demonstrated that BPA is linked to adverse health effects, this study fills in a missing piece of the puzzle-whether or not polycarbonate plastic bottles are an important contributor to the amount of BPA in the body.”

The study has been published on the website of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. (ANI)