02/26/10 - Recent attention at NRDC's petition for OEHHA to list Bisphenol-A (BPA) as a reproductive toxicant under Prop. 65 has emphasized the chemical's presence in water and baby bottles, the lining of canned food, and its effect on children and newborns. Last November, however, results were revealed of a 5-year study by Kaiser Permanente epidemiologist Dr. De-Kun Li and other scientists, focusing on the men working in Chinese factories that made and/or used the chemical. It was found that the men who were exposed to high levels of BPA at work, about 50 times higher than the average American male, had a greater chance of experiencing sexual dysfunction. Reduced sexual desire and sexual satisfaction were 4.5 times more likely and problems with ejaculation were 7 times more likely in the BPA exposed workers, a result of the chemical's ability to block testosterone function in men.

These findings reflect the results of BPA studies on animals, in which BPA was shown to disrupt the bodies endocrine system. Dr. Li's study was the first to show the adverse effects of BPA on the human reproductive system. [Sources: SF Chronicle and NPR.org]