--- title: BPA: The Danger in Your Dog’s Canned Food description: New research suggests the chemical BPA can threaten the health of dogs and other domesticated animals as well as humans canonical: https://time.com/4606906/bpa-canned-food-dogs/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-19T20:35:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:23:32.264Z article:section: Health og:title: The Dangers in Your Dog’s Canned Food og:description: New research suggests the chemical BPA can threaten the health of dogs and other domesticated animals as well as humans og:url: https://time.com/4606906/bpa-canned-food-dogs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc037d61e974e083a/6988b37186f68e3d866e2fd4/dog-eating-bpa-canned-food.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2048 og:image:height: 1152 og:image:alt: dog eating bpa canned food og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Dangers in Your Dog’s Canned Food twitter:description: New research suggests the chemical BPA can threaten the health of dogs and other domesticated animals as well as humans twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc037d61e974e083a/6988b37186f68e3d866e2fd4/dog-eating-bpa-canned-food.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Dangers in Your Dog’s Canned Food  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 19, 2016 8:35 PM UTC  Vanessa Shaushkin/ EyeEm—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 19, 2016 8:35 PM UTC For years, scientists have sounded the alarm about the potential health risks of Bisphenol A ([BPA](http://time.com/3742871/bpa-free-health/)), an endocrine-disrupting chemical that has been linked to reproductive problems and other issues in humans. BPA is found in household and consumer products including canned goods, water bottles and receipts. Now, new [research](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969716326274) suggests that the chemical can also threaten the health of dogs and other pets. Authors of the study, published in the journal _Science of the Total Environment_, took 14 dogs who were all used to eating food stored in a bag, then fed them canned food. When the dogs ate canned food—even a brand represented as [BPA-free](http://time.com/3948271/dehp-replacements-health/)—for just two weeks, their blood levels of BPA increased. When dogs were fed canned food, their BPA levels nearly tripled compared to their concentrations at the start of the study. The presence of BPA in dogs was associated with changes to their gut microbiome and metabolism, the researchers found. The study authors add that the research may have implications beyond the health of pets. “Dogs, who share our internal and external environments with us, are likely excellent indicators of potential human health concerns to BPA and other environmental chemicals,” the study authors write. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4606906/bpa-canned-food-dogs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4606906/bpa-canned-food-dogs/"},"headline":"The Dangers in Your Dog’s Canned Food","datePublished":"2016-12-19T20:35:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:23:32.264Z","description":"When dogs were fed canned food, their BPA levels nearly tripled","url":"https://time.com/4606906/bpa-canned-food-dogs/","keywords":["toxins","Food Safety","chemicals","BPA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc037d61e974e083a/6988b37186f68e3d866e2fd4/dog-eating-bpa-canned-food.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc037d61e974e083a/6988b37186f68e3d866e2fd4/dog-eating-bpa-canned-food.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"dog eating bpa canned food","caption":"dog eating bpa canned food","creditText":"Vanessa Shaushkin/ EyeEm—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/toxins/","name":"toxins"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4606906/bpa-canned-food-dogs/","name":"The Dangers in Your Dog’s Canned Food"}}]}] ```