Health Canada Backs Safety of BPA in Food Packaging
Health Canada has released an updated assessment of bisphenol A (BPA), concluding that dietary exposure through food sources “is not expected to pose a health risk.” The September 2012 assessment takes into account surveys performed after the agency issued its first conclusions in 2008, when it found “Probable Daily Intakes (PDI) for BPA of 0.18 µg/kg bw/day for the general population and 1.35 µg/kg bw/day for infants.” These surveys sought to measure concentrations of BPA in canned drink products, bottled water products, canned food products, and soft drink and beer products, as well as in total diet samples.
Based on Health Canada’s probabilistic exposure assessment, the new survey results have revised the 2008 PDIs downward for both the general populations and infants. In particular, the agency reported a mean exposure to BPA of 0.055 µg/kg bw/day for the general population, “which is approximately 3 times lower than the intake calculated using migration studies conducted on epoxy-lined cans from the US market in 1995, and presented in the Department’s previous health risk assessment published in August of 2008. This updated dietary exposure figure generally aligns with exposure estimates that are based on the results of population-based biomonitoring studies.” In addition, the updated assessment noted that while BPA PDIs for infants could vary widely, “the BPA intake estimates for these age categories are, on average, approximately 3-fold lower than those previously derived as part of the 2008 assessment.”
“Therefore, based on the overall weight of evidence, the findings of the
previous assessment remain unchanged and Health Canada’s Food Directorate
continues to conclude that current dietary exposure to BPA through
food packaging uses is not expected to pose a health risk to the general
population, including newborns and young children,” states the report. “This
conclusion is consistent with those of other food regulatory agencies in other
countries, including notably the United States, the European Union and
Japan.”
