There's been a lot in the news lately about risks of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). That's the ingredient found in canned soups and drinks and many hard-plastic reusable water bottles.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, the nonprofit consumer watch group based in Washington D.C., is urging women who are pregnant or breast-feeding to consider reducing their exposure and that of their infants and young children to containers that have this chemical.

The center's April newsletter, the Nutrition Action Healthletter, points out that one government-funded expert panel linked the endocrine-disrupting chemical to increased rates of breast and prostate cancer and reproductive problems. A second panel found fault with the first, though both expressed concerns about the impact of BPA on behavior in animal studies and what that might mean for children.

"BPA is coursing through the bloodstream of almost every American. Government scientists say that almost all of that comes from the tiny amounts that are leached out of Nalgene-type polycarbonate water bottles or metal cans lined with an epoxy resin made from BPA. Unfortunately, that means almost all metal cans that contain food or drink," according to the newsletter.

"We don't want to tell people not to eat canned beans or tomatoes," said CSPI senior nutritionist David Schardt. "But at the same time, it makes sense for all parents, and especially pregnant and nursing women, to minimize the exposure of their kids' developing bodies and brains to BPA."

Parents can help kids minimize exposure by avoiding toddler sippy cups and infant formula bottles made with polycarbonate plastic, according to the CSPI.

At least one brand of canned goods, Eden, uses a BPA-free lining for its cans, and several manufacturers use aseptic cardboard boxes free of BPA. Several brands of tuna and salmon come in pouches, instead of in BPA-lined cans, and most canned vegetables also come frozen.

Also, soda drinkers could minimize exposure to BPA by choosing plastic bottles, almost all of which are made with easily recyclable and BPA-free polyethylene terephthalate.

-- Virginia Linn, Post-Gazette lifestyle editor