If you're diligent about PCOS news, you probably haven't missed the press release reporting the finding that women with PCOS have 60% higher blood levels of bisphenol-a than other women.
The question is, what can you do with that information? My hunch is that many of you immediately wanted to know where you could get your blood levels tested and what to do if they turned out to be high. I worked much of yesterday trying to put together some answers for you, because it's highly likely that soon there will be people out there marketing solutions to all of you, some of which might be helpful…and others which are more likely to help fatten the other person's wallet than to improve your own personal situation.
The first thing I looked for was whether or not there was any way you could actually have your own blood BPA levels tested. I wrote to the Environmental Working Group, who has done some BPA testing, and who I trust.
Here is their response:
Thank you for your interest in EWG's work. Unfortunately, testing for toxins in the body is an expensive and time consuming endeavor. Some commercial labs will test for certain chemicals (and your physician may be some help here), but the kind of tests we ran for our BodyBurden reports would be almost impossible to procure for the average individual, not to mention cost prohibitive.
We are not associated with any lab in particular, but you might find the study’s methodologies--and what tests were run, and where--helpful:
http://archive.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden1/
http://archive.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/
In addition, we do not recommend that individuals seek body burden testing for the chemicals in the Human Toxome Project. These tests rarely provide any concrete information regarding the origin of your condition or the sources of your exposure.
1. Health effects of many of the industrial chemicals at levels found in people are mostly unknown. Most studies measure the toxic effects of these chemicals at high doses in animals. Few studies reveal potential health concerns from the complex, low-dose mixtures found in people.
2. We cannot at this time associate current health problems or predict future health problems from the chemicals that might be in your body. Scientists are only beginning to study the health effects of repeated exposures to trace levels of these chemicals. While studies suggest that some specific chemicals may play a role in certain health problems, risks to an individual are largely unknown. Genetics, timing of exposure, and levels of exposure all may be important.
3. Even if you were to be tested for dozens of chemicals, you would not know the added effect of the hundreds of other industrial chemicals that contaminate the human body at any given moment. The additive effects of the chemical mixtures found in people make understanding the potential health implications of your personal exposures even more complicated.
As an alternative we recommend that you review our site for suggestions of ways to limit your exposure to toxic chemicals, and join us in our fight for more protective policies that limit our exposures to harmful chemicals. Policy measures are the most permanent, cost effective, precautionary and equitable way to protect our health. Thanks again for your interest in our work.
Bottom line: running out and getting yourself tested for your own BPA levels is not a recommended response. Staying apprised and learning how to limit BPA exposure are great preventive strategies.