BPA Linked to Lobster “Shell Disease”
A molecular biologist has allegedly found that waterborne chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) are a contributing factor to lobster shell disease, a bacterial infection linked to population die-offs in the Long Island Sound. Undertaken on behalf of the New England Lobster Research Initiative and presented during the 9th Annual Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium, the study reportedly suggests that alkylphenols from plastics, paint and detergents can delay new shell growth, making lobsters more susceptible to pathogens during the molting process. These substances also apparently prolong maturation in juveniles, while mothers who contract shell disease are often forced to molt midway through the reproductive cycle and thus lose their offspring.
As University of Connecticut Research Professor Hans Laufer explained in an August 10, 2010, press release, “[a]lkylphenols have phenomenal juvenile hormone activity,” which affects “growth, reproduction, metamorphosis, and development.” He further noted that 90 percent of the U.S. population is also contaminated with BPA and similar chemicals. “This is as big a threat to human health as tobacco,” Laufer was quoted as saying. “Many companies are saying that they’re safe, but they’re not.”
