University of Ulster scientist, Anna Soto, just issued a warning that bisphenol A - BPA - can set off toxins that lead to cancer, wrote the BBC. According to Soto, a link has been found between BPA use and mammary cancer in laboratory rats, the BBC added.

The BBC also pointed out that BPA has been banned or limited in three countries: Canada, Denmark, and France. In the United States, a number of bans are in place in a variety of states and counties; others are underway and under consideration.

Professor Soto collaborated with Professor Carlos Sonnenschein from Tufts University in Boston; the team discovered that fetal and neonatal BPA exposure increases the risk of developing "malignant tumors later in life," wrote the BBC. "I would call for a banning of the use of BPA giving the growing evidence and increasing concerns that research has shown. The fetal and neonatal life are crucial for a child's development and parents should consider the advantage of using BPA-free products," said Soto, quoted the BBC.

Meanwhile, earlier this week we wrote that an emerging study revealed that neonatal exposure BPA can lead to "reproductive and endocrine alterations resembling ... polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in adult rats," citing Environmental Health News. Those rats exposed to the estrogenic compound in their early life developed symptoms consistent with PCOS, a key cause of female infertility.

As we have long been explaining, BPA is known to imitate the hormone estrogen and acts as an anti-androgen and is also known to affect sexual development and processes, especially in developing fetuses, infants, and children.

Also, many hundreds of studies have linked BPA to cardiovascular disease, intestinal problems, brain cell connection interference, increased risks of reproductive and immune system diseases and disorders, problems with liver function testing, interruptions in chemotherapy treatment, and erectile dysfunction and male sexual problems. In urine tests, BPA is found in the overwhelming majority of Americans, more than 93 percent and, significantly, the chemical is found in 90 percent of all newborns.

BPA is a compound in nearly every consumer product and can be found in most canned foods. The thin epoxy resin layer rests between the food and the metal, which serves to prevent rust. A problem specifically, said Shanna Swan, a professor and researcher at the University of Rochester in New York, "when it's lining infant formula cans," quoted Reuters previously. BPA is a plastic hardener known for its use in polycarbonate manufacturing and is also found in beverage cans, a wide array of plastic products, thermal paper, and resins used in nautical paint, an issue in our aquatic environment.

We, very recently, wrote that another new study at Tufts University School of Medicine revealed BPA's carcinogenic effects. Specifically, studies in rodents showed that estrogen-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as BPA, can cause harm at much lower levels when exposure occurs when the body is developing. Earlier animal studies also found that exposure to even trace BPA levels increases cancer risks in adulthood.