Study: Common Plastics Leaking Estrogen Disrupters, Posing Threat to Human Hormones

An old tweet recently emerged to highlight the estrogenic properties in common plastics that may affect hormones:

Old post but it just now struck me that it vindicates like 5 of Alex Jones’ most weird-sounding beliefs pic.twitter.com/DqZ6AJJhcn

— Veterans of Forum Wars (@EricSmallman3) April 20, 2023

The tweet isn’t that far-fetched; chemicals having estrogenic activity (EA) are found in many common plastics, according to a 2011 study which warned that such plastics can “leach chemicals having EA into food products.”

“Almost all commercially available plastic products we sampled—independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source—leached chemicals having reliably detectable EA, including those advertised as BPA free,” the study reported. “In some cases, BPA-free products released chemicals having more EA than did BPA-containing products.”

The study was so profound that even NPR reported on its findings.

“The testing showed that more than 70 percent of the products released chemicals that acted like estrogen, and that was before they exposed the stuff to real-world conditions: simulated sunlight, dishwashing and microwaving, [study author George] Bittner says,” the outlet reported.

Similarly, a massive report by the Endocrine Society warns that “chemical additives in plastic and the threat they pose to human health and the environment is an emerging issue of global concern.”

“Many plastic additives are known to interfere with hormone functioning
and are, by definition, endocrine disrupting chemicals,” the report states. “This publication provides clear and extensive evidence of the human health impacts of many chemicals in common plastics.”

Even as far back as 1997 researchers were worried about the effect estrogens from plastic could have on the population.

“Scientifically sound experiments have documented that various environmental chemicals are capable of acting as endocrine disrupters, either hormone agonists or antagonists, which can potentially alter the hormonal balance in animals and people,” reads a May 1997 editorial from the journal Endocrinology. “A number of studies, including our own (15), have clearly shown the estrogenic activity of some environmental chemicals.”