117 Years of BPA
Many frames and lenses for eyeglasses are made from polycarbonate.
(Bernd Kammerer - Associated Press)
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1891
Bisphenol A is synthesized by chemists.
1930s
Scientists discover that BPA is an artificial estrogen, but it is eclipsed by a stronger synthetic estrogen, DES. (DES is used until the 1970s, when it is removed from the market after it was found to cause reproductive cancers in girls.)
1953
BPA is used to make a hard, strong plastic called polycarbonate, a material that becomes common in a wide variety of everyday items, including water coolers, eyeglasses and baby bottles.
