BPA to bizarre

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a "watchdog report" in Sunday's paper about endocrine disrupting chemicals, with most of the emphasis on certain phthalates in PVC and on bisphenol A (BPA) in polycarbonate. The story doesn't appear to break any new ground, but it's interesting that the mainstream media continues to follow this rather complicated issue. (USA Today had a similar feature on Nov. 2, which no doubt reached more readers, although the Journal Sentinel story is a better place to start for readers who want to know more about the topic). OK, but you clicked through to this item for the "bizarre" part, right? Well, I wouldn't steer you wrong, dear reader. Check out the interactive chat with Dr. Frederick vom Saal, the University of Missouri biologist and expert on endocrine disrupters, that the Journal Sentinel posted on its Web site as part of the special report package. Nearly all of the questions are very serious, and indicate a high level of concern that many people have about how chemicals affect human health. But there are a couple of odd questions in the chat, and I enjoyed the way vom Saal dealt with them.