But that doesn’t mean that the two opposing sides have equal merit. In her “Poison Pen” blog in last week’s New York Times, the science writer Deborah Blum calls attention to new research that raises alarming questions about adverse effects on the female reproductive organs from exposure to BPA (bisphenol-A). Her article is titled, “In Plastics and Cans, a Threat to Women.” Blum described work by Jodi Flaws, a researcher at the University of Illinois, that appeared to show that exposing female mice in utero or at an early age to BPA, at levels comparable to those encountered by humans, induced adverse effects on the ovaries. Read more.