Th story of how BPA (bisphenol A)was discovered to contribute to infertility is an interesting one. It was August 1998 and a research group at Case Western Reserve University were studying egg development in mice. Suddenly, seemingly overnight, there was a dramatic increase in chromosomally abnormal eggs - that is eggs that won’t produce a healthy, living baby. Until this point 1-2% of the mouse eggs where chromosomally abnormal, but that jumped to 40% all of a sudden. After a thorough investigation the researchers discovered that BPA had been leaching out of the plastic cages and water bottles after being washed in detergent. Once all the damaged plastic cages and water bottles where replaced, the rate of eggs with chromosomal errors returned to normal.

It’s difficult to avoid all BPA as it’s present in many everyday items such as packaging and paper receipts from the store. The good news is minimising your exposure will go a long way to reducing the risk of BPA affecting your fertility. In several studies on women undergoing IVF it was found that those with the highest levels of measurable BPA in their blood had more abnormal eggs, and less eggs that successfully fertilised and developed than women with lower levels of BPA. Women with higher levels of BPA also suffered more miscarriages.

However it was found that eating 400mg of natural folate from your diet daily - from foods such as leafy greens, brassica vegetables and lentils pretty much cancelled out any negative impact of BPA.

The point is don’t stress about being exposed to BPA, but make moves to reduce it. Don’t drink out of plastic water bottles. Don’t eat out of plastic containers and especially don’t heat food in plastic containers. A lot of tinned foods are largelyly BPA free however many companies are replacing BPA with similar chemicals such as BPS and BPF.