Popular Beliefs About Bisphenol A Have Been Repeatedly Falsified, Yet the Controversy Continues. Why?
Claims that bisphenol A causes hormone disruption have been refuted again and again by large, independent studies the results of which have been published in peer reviewed papers. Yet, based on nothing more than an uninspired theory (that estrogen-like molecules ought to do what estrogen does) and a few, small, poorly controlled studies the results of which can't be reliably reproduced elsewhere, the effort to ban a product that prevents bacteria from infecting much of the food you consume continues to accelerate. How could this be?
You can find Richard M. Sharpe's answer in "Is It Time to End Concerns over the Estrogenic Effects of Bisphenol A?" published in the journal Toxicological Sciences (free access!).
Like the autism/vaccine, limb reduction/Bendectin controversies the bisphenol A panic has spread like a virus. And if those past controversies are any guide it'll be several more years before civilization's immune response, empiricism, is able to bring us collectively back to our senses. In the meantime expect opportunistic infections to take advantage of the situation.
