Bisphenol A has been used around the world for over 50 years and traces of it can be found everywhere: in the air, soil, living things, and water. It is very useful for manufacturing polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins, and countless other products but there are concerns about negative effects, especially on human health since it has been classified as an endocrine disruptor. As such, knowing exactly where it is found is important information. Municipal water supply from various locations in Kamloops, British Columbia were tested by a capillary electrophoresis method developed in this study to detect bisphenol A as low as 5 parts per million. Mussel samples from coastal British Columbia were also tested. None of the water samples tested showed the presence of bisphenol A at the concentrations that were detectable by this method. Mussel tissue analysis was inconclusive and requires further investigation to confirm BPA concentrations around 5 parts per million. Other future work will include refining the capillary electrophoresis method to detect lower concentrations and to attempt to detect bisphenol analogues which are being used to replace bisphenol A in many products.
