Dental sealants may be exposing young children to BPA, Bisphenol A, which is a resin used in many kinds of plastics. Many studies suggest that BPA can have harmful effects on human health, particularly on child development.USNews reported that, based on new research, dental sealants can expose children to BPA. Exposure is believed to be short-lived" but long-term risks are unknown. USNews said the dental products do not contain pure BPA, however saliva can cause them to leach, releasing BPA into the mouth, degrading it into pure BPA, said the team.The research that exists shows that upon contact with enzymes in the saliva some, but not all, BPA derivatives break down to pure BPA, and that BPA is said to be in saliva for a short time period of up to three hours, said study author Dr. Abby F. Fleisch. CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton explained on "The Early Show," "This is a study that looked although the BPA compounds in dental sealants because they are used to do good things in our children and actually found that when these sealants combine with saliva, the enzymes in saliva release a BPA byproduct that is detectable in the saliva of children up to three hours after sealants are applied." Ashton added more than 95 percent of Americans have traces of detectable BPA in our urine. "This should not be a surprise," she said. "...This is a chemical that's everywhere. It can act like a hormone, like a weak estrogen, and so it affect anything from premature puberty to the prostate gland, to the urinary tract to certain types of cancers -- a theorized link -- and that comes from studies in animals, not yet people. Again, research is ongoing." "A lot more research is needed to understand the full effects of BPA," Fleisch told Reuters Health.
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