Men: Cut back on the canned food! Your sex life could depend on it. A new study links high levels of BPA (bisphenol A) — a controversial chemical that’s found in the lining of most canned foods and some hard plastic containers — to male sexual problems.
According to The Washington Post, the researchers behind the study found that male factory workers in China handling BPA “were four times as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction and seven times as likely to have difficulty with ejaculation.”
Drank out of a #7 reusable water bottle that’s not labeled BPA-free? Ate canned tuna today? Don’t panic yet, lest the anxiety create more sexual dysfunction. While more than 93% of Americans have traces of BPA in their urine, those levels are about 50 times lover than the levels of BPA found in the urine of the Chinese workers in the study, according to NewScientist’s Short Sharp Science.
BPA worries have often focused on the effect of the chemical on babies — which has prompted many baby bottle manufacturers to switch to BPA-free products — but this new study prompts some eco-sexual anxieties for adults — even though the U.S. Federal Drug Administration still maintains that the chemical doesn’t pose risks. I guess my complaints about anti-BPA initiatives being too baby-focused wasn’t too off base after all!
Read the original study published in Human Reproduction (PDF) for the hard data on men gone soft. Since another recent study reported finding BPA in most canned foods, A Man, a Can, a Plan may not make the best holiday gift for your favorite lover. Eat fresh and keep your evening plans from going south.
Photo by istorija
So, stopping eating canned food will cure me of my sexual dysfunction and needing to be called Mr. Snufalufagus by my partner in bed? Sorry… I had to.
Comment by Ben — November 13, 2009 @ 6:40 pm
I think it’s really hard to draw a conclusion about the broader population based on that study. Contaminants that act like hormones can do one thing to the human body at one concentration and something completely different at another. The recent panic about BPA resulted from studies that seemed to show adverse effects, especially on young people, from low concentrations. The bottom line is that it seems to be something that we should be avoiding as consumers and something that manufacturers should be replacing with something safer.
Comment by Martin — November 14, 2009 @ 8:26 am
So….what do we do with all the canned foods? I haven’t been able to get a straight answer from anyone.
Comment by karen — November 14, 2009 @ 11:08 am
Martin — Yep, the scientists too say that obviously, the amount of BPA these Chinese workers were exposed to was much, much higher than the general population.
But if I were a guy, I’d seriously try to err on the side of safety :)
karen — Stop buying them!
Comment by Siel — November 24, 2009 @ 6:09 pm