EPA Requests Feedback on BPA Toxicity Testing Plan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) related to bisphenol A (BPA) toxicity testing and the study of its potential environmental impacts. The agency has requested comments by September 26, 2011, on (i) requiring toxicity testing “to determine the potential for BPA to cause adverse effects, including endocrine-related effects, in environmental organisms at low concentrations,” and (ii) monitoring for BPA in surface water, ground water, drinking water, soil, sediment, and landfill leachate “to determine whether environmental organisms may currently be exposed to concentrations of BPA in the environment that are at or above levels of concern for adverse effects, including endocrine-related effects.”

According to a July 26, 2011, EPA press release, the ANPRM builds on a March 2010 action plan meant to strengthen the agency’s chemical management program and “assure the safety of chemicals that many American encounter in their daily lives.” Although the latest effort is directed only toward “the environmental presence and environmental effects of BPA,” EPA is also working with the Department of Health and Human Services on potential human health issues. Additional details about the action plan appear in Issue 344 of this Update.