A government health study involving a contentious chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), has increased apprehensions about the wide use of the chemical for making plastic. A cancer suspect, the chemical lingers in the body for a much longer time than earlier presumed - and, as such, has a much greater chance of causing harm.

The published results of the study about the toxic chemical, in Environmental Health Perspectives Journal, have rung the alarm bell of concern as well as the legal parameters.

For their study, Dr. Richard Stahlhut of the University of Rochester, New York, and colleagues examined 1,469 US adults for the levels of BPA in the urine. Though it was previously believed that the chemical was eliminated quickly and entirely from the body through urine, the study found noteworthy levels of the chemical even in people who had fasted the whole day.

Stahlhut concluded: "If BPA leaves the body quickly, it reduces the amount of time when it can cause problems. If it does cause problems, obviously if it stays around much longer, then that changes the game."

According to the researchers, the sources which help the chemical gain access to the body are quite a few - plastic food containers, baby bottles, water pipes, coating of medical devices, and even dust from carbonless paper!

Professor Patricia Hunt, of Washington State University, remarked that the study provides evidence that "we are being exposed to more BPA than we think!"