EFSA to Hold Public Consultation on BPA Draft Opinion
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced a forthcoming public consultation to discuss its draft opinion on the potential health risks of bisphenol A (BPA). Slated for final adoption in November 2013, the draft opinion will take into account “ongoing scientific work on BPA at European and national levels” as well as the work of EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel), which in February 2012 agreed to undertake “a full re-evaluation of the human risks associated with exposure to BPA” from both dietary and non-dietary sources.
According to a March 26, 2013, press release, EFSA last completed a full risk
assessment for the substance in 2006, concluding at the time that dietary BPA
exposures for adults, infants and children “were all well below” the Tolerable
Daily Intake set at 0.05 mg/kg body weight/day. Since the 2006 opinion,
however, scientific experts and national agencies such as the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety have undertaken
new risk assessments that purportedly raise concerns about low-dose
exposures to the BPA used in food contact materials and medical devices.
The CEF Panel has thus agreed to review all new data and studies in addition
to “further evaluating uncertainties about the possible relevance to human
health of some BPA-related effects observed in rodents at low dose levels.”
EFSA will launch the public consultation in July 2013.
