Good news! The whole bisphenol-A (BPA) issue has been way overblown, says Maine Governor Paul LePage.
After Canada banned the use of BPA in baby bottles and cups, many other countries and even some states moved to do the same. BPA is an endocrine disruptor that can mimic a person’s own hormones, which some scientists think can lead to some Very Bad Things. However, Governor LePage thinks it’s all a lot of boo-hooing over nothing. Seemingly aware he was in front of reporters and being filmed, LePage said:
Until I see Science that tells me that BPA is a problem, and I haven’t seen it–quite frankly, the Science that I’m looking at says there is no… there’s not been any Science that identifies that there is a problem. The only thing that I’ve heard is if you take a plastic bottle, put it in the microwave and heat it up, it gives off a chemical that’s similar to estrogen. And, um…so, I mean, the worst case is some women may have little beards.
After Canada banned the use of BPA in baby bottles and cups, many other countries and even some states moved to do the same. BPA is an endocrine disruptor that can mimic a person’s own hormones, which some scientists think can lead to some Very Bad Things. However, Governor LePage thinks it’s all a lot of boo-hooing over nothing. Seemingly aware he was in front of reporters and being filmed, LePage said:
Until I see Science that tells me that BPA is a problem, and I haven’t seen it–quite frankly, the Science that I’m looking at says there is no… there’s not been any Science that identifies that there is a problem. The only thing that I’ve heard is if you take a plastic bottle, put it in the microwave and heat it up, it gives off a chemical that’s similar to estrogen. And, um…so, I mean, the worst case is some women may have little beards.
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| LePage and some lady friends that he apparently wouldn't mind see bearded. |
Bearded ladies! Inconvenient, possibly confusing, sure, but nothing too terrible, right?
A few months ago, when he was running for governor, LePage wasn’t so blase about people with ambiguous sexual identities. Speaking about transgendered students and the Maine Human Rights Act, he declared, “I just don’t understand how people, at least sane people, would want to allow transgender in our primary schools and our high schools.” Back then, the idea of a bearded woman, or a skirted man, or a lady with a pee-pee seemed like some sort of crazy nightmare to Governor LePage. I guess he’s grown.
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| LePage and his (currently) unbearded Stepford family pose in front of a greenscreen with their genuinely adorable doggy Baxter. (Click to enlarge! Seriously, it's worth it!) |
Leaving aside the (1) bad taste of the joke, (2) hypocrisy of the chosen imagery, and (3) douchey repertoire of comments the governor seems to have at his fingertips, LePage has obviously not looked very hard for the Science he claims to need. There have been ample studies to show that BPA is, at the very least, worth treating with caution, especially when it comes to infant exposure.
