The chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, has been around for years, but over the last decade or so there's been an effort to remove it from food packaging and containers. However, a new report finds that the amount of BPA in canned food linings and lids is still too high.

BPA is a chemical that is a building block used to make polymers and resins, otherwise known as plastic.

BPA is an industrial chemical and has many uses, but if it isn't completely sealed while being made it can potentially leach out – leak into your food. The chemical can be bad for you if you consume too much of it.

“It mimics hormones in the body, specifically endocrine hormones, and of all the molecules that there are, hormones are the most biologically active, meaning it takes a very, very little amount to have an effect on the human body,” says Dr. Ghislain Deslongchamps, chair of the department of chemistry at the University of New Brunswick.

Many people have worried about the effect of BPA for several years, so much so that the Canadian government banned the chemical in baby bottles eight years ago. But, according to a recent study, it's still found in many other common products.

The study states that 71 per cent of sampled Del Monte cans tested positive for BPA, 50 per cent of General Mills cans and 100 per cent of Campbell’s cans contained BPA.

“The reason that companies, like Heinz or Campbell’s or Del Monte are using it as a product, is that it gives it a longer shelf life for whatever is in the can, so it's straight up marketing,” says environmentalist Lois Corbett.

Corbett says if we could ban the chemical from baby bottles and still have baby bottles we should be able to do it for all containers that hold food.

Companies have already reacted to the study. Campbell's has vowed to transition to cans without BPA linings by the middle of 2017.

“This is a significant impact,” says Corbett. “They could have waited until the government got its act together to ban, but they decided to get out in front of it and I think that's fantastic.”

Health Canada’s most recent safety assessment of BPA found that current dietary exposure poses no risk to the general population.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Laura Brown