Page 49 - Winter2020

Technology as Servant

BPA: DOES CALLING IT SAFE MAKE IT SO?

By James Kirkpatrick

Bisphenol A (BPA): Other than a good if making it difficult to separate the mixture into Because BPA
not suggestive acronym, what is it? If you’re individual components through boiling or distil- is prevalent in
someone who has children or reheats leftovers in lation alone.)
Tupperware, then you may be familiar with this Acetone, the second reagent used in produc- food packaging,
synthetic material, as it is widely available and ing BPA, is the binder molecule that sits in the it is almost
in common use today. For most of us, though, middle and bridges the two phenol molecules inevitable that
we are only vaguely aware of it as something together. Most of us interact with acetone on a
having to do with plastic, and you probably have frequent basis through its two main uses, nail some amount
an inkling that it is harmful to us in some form polish remover and paint thinner. Acetone is of BPA will mix
or fashion, but that the science concerning this produced and disposed of in the human body
mystery acronym is still ongoing. through standard metabolism and is present in with food or
kidney-liver functions and the urinary tract. drink and be
A TOXIC CHEMISTRY Acetone is a by-product of fermentation and ingested into
Bisphenol A was first synthesized by the can build up in the human body due to imbal-
Russian chemist Alexander Dianin in Saint ances such as prolonged fasting, alcoholism and the human

Petersburg one hundred thirty years ago. It is diabetes, all of which produce excess levels of body, even if
made by combining the organic hydrocarbon acetone. This is commonly known as ketoacido- the amounts
phenol with acetone. (See Figure 1.) sis and in some cases results in harm to human
Phenol is a hexagonal-shaped ring molecule, reproductive organs. are incredibly
and a close cousin of the hydrocarbon benzene. small or at the
Benzene is a ring-shaped molecule, where the LOTS OF IT AND PROFITABLE molecular level.
ring-shaped carbon structure is saturated with Today BPA is primarily used as a building
hydrogen. What makes phenol different from block to produce two synthetic building mate-
benzene is that one of the hydrogen molecules rials: polycarbonates (75 percent) and epoxy
has been replaced with an -OH molecule or a hy- resins (25 percent). Total global demand for BPA
droxyl group. The hydroxyl group is common to is approximately 6.5 million metric tonnes an-
water (the core of acid-base chemistry), alcohol nually, even though it’s only 0.4 percent of the
and many other compounds across the organic total petrochemical demand of 1,800 million
spectrum. Phenol is a strong acid, extremely metric tonnes. Capacity to produce BPA stands
toxic to human beings—for example, direct at roughly 9 million metric tonnes in 2020, with
skin contact or exposure to phenol in excess production facilities concentrated in the U.S.
of ten square inches is considered fatal. It is (12.5 percent), Western Europe (22.5 percent),
widely used as an industrial reagent and in the Japan-Korea-Taiwan (25 percent) and China (30
production of polycarbonates, epoxies, Bakelite, percent). The production of BPA is concentrated
nylon, detergents, herbicides and a wide variety in the four regions where most of the world’s
of pharmaceutical components. petrochemical production capacity is located.
There are two physical properties of phe- From a corporate interest or engineering
nol to keep in mind, because of the attached perspective, the reasons why we use BPA are
hydroxyl group: it is water-soluble and when clinically real; performance, cost and “safety.” It
mixed with other organic liquids it forms an is lightweight, durable, moldable and thermally
azeotrope. (This is a fancy chemical name for stable, with a melt point of about 315 degrees
a liquid mixture that boils as a liquid mixture, F; it does not oxidize easily (it’s biologically

WINTER 2020 Wise Traditions 47