EFSA Concludes BPA Exposure “Lower Than Previously Estimated”
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a draft assessment of consumer exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), provisionally concluding that “for all population groups diet is the major source of exposure to [BPA] and exposure is lower than previously estimated.” According to a July 25, 2013, news release, EFSA used exposure modeling and new human biomonitoring data to refine its estimate of dietary BPA exposure levels for infants and toddlers (375 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day) as well as the general population above age 18 (132 ng/kg bw/day). In addition, the agency found that dietary BPA exposure was highest among children ages 3 to 10, “explainable by their higher food consumption on a body weight basis.”
“By comparison, these estimates are less than 1% of the current Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) for BPA (0.05 milligrams/kg bw/day) established by EFSA in 2006,” stated EFSA, which identified canned food and non-canned meat and meat products “as major contributors to dietary BPA exposure for all age groups.” The assessment also named thermal paper “the second most important source of BPA after the diet (potentially accounting for up to 15% of total exposure in some population groups).” As part of its two-stage consultation on BPA, the agency will accept public comments on the draft until September 15, 2013, before issuing its full risk assessment.
