What about occupational exposure to BPA?

Resins have been used in industry for a long time, both as an intermediate and as a product. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a key ingredient in the production of numerous materials widely used in daily life (you can read more about the many uses of BPA in our article https://www.hazoxinc.com/bisphenol-a-can-one-product-have-so-many-uses/). It is also one of the most studied chemicals so far and with a safety record that goes back  for more than 50 years (https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/bpa-bisphenol-a/).

For most people, low levels of BPA in the urine is due to eating food or drinking water stored in BPA lined containers (https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/BisphenolA_FactSheet.html) but for workers these levels are usually higher, on average 70 times higher. In fact, it has been determined that BPA levels will vary according to the type of sample tested with the highest levels found in urine with lower trace levels found in air and hand wipes (https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/research-rounds/resroundsv3n7.html).

Similarly, this exposure changes with the type of work. Workers exposed to molten wax filled with BPA had the highest levels of exposure due to the vaporization of BPA when the wax was heated (http://www.industrialhygienenews.com/high-bpa-levels-found-in-factory-workers). 

These higher levels cannot be attributed to consumption and are therefore believed to be due to occupational exposure. In fact, in a study carried out in 2017, it was concluded that different factors related to the work environment influence the levels of exposure to BPA and therefore the concentration of the product that is eliminated in urine (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5577557/).

According to specialists, occupational exposure to BPA is not only caused by exposure to the process itself, but also from the sampling, packing, loading and unloading of BPA products, as well as from plant maintenance activities. It would make sense that engineering controls are used to reduce occupational exposure to BPA (https://www.bisphenol-a.org/pdf/BPA%20Handling%20Guide%20-%20Single%20Page%20Layout%20-%20February%202013.pdf).

The issue of BPA exposure is still a topic that is being researched. In a study carried out in 2017, it was suggested that despite the widespread use of the chemical in the industry in general, and the development of products for daily use, there were not enough studies that showed the effects of BPA exposure to human health. Most of the research undertaken so far has looked at the toxicological effects in animals, but this has not been reproducible in humans. This has limited the ability to predict the actual health risk to those who are directly or indirectly exposed to them (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5634705/).

With the uncertainty of health effects that surrounds the use of BPA and its exposure, it is important that workers (main direct exposures) are advised about the effects on their health and ways to prevent it, such as safe handling (see article https://www.hazoxinc.com/handling-storage-and-disposal-of-bpa-how-do-we-do-it-safely/).

Tomorrow, we will look at fire precautions when using BPA

On Thursday 5^th, we will look at the effects of BPA in the environment

On Friday 6^th , we will look at alternatives to BPA

In the last of this series on Monday 9^th we will look at how to detox from BPA.

If you have missed the first article in the series, where we introduced you to the chemical BPA, you can catch up here.

Our second article, the history of BPA can be found here:

The third article looking at the many uses of BPA can be found here:

The fourth article about the health effects of BPA can be found here:

The fifth article looking at the regulations affecting the use of BPA can be found here:

The sixth article in the series looked at safe handling, storage and disposal and can be found here:

If you liked our articles, give us a Like and follow us at

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HazoxComplianceSolutions

Twitter https://twitter.com/Hazox_Inc

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/hazoxcompliancesolutions

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIeBucyOUEtQFSAymS3TwQQ