Researchers in Canada have published a warning in Science about the leaching of bioactive contaminants from disposable laboratory plastic ware such as test tubes, pipette tips and culture plates. They demonstrated that some lubricating, or slip, agents (“exemplified by oleamide”) and cationic biocides (DiHEMDA) used in manufacturing the plastics “leach from laboratory plasticware into a standard aqueous buffer, dimethyl sulfoxide, and methanol and can have profound effects on proteins and thus on results from biossays of protein function.” These agents are apparently used in products from yogurt containers to clothing. Biochemistry Professor Andrew Holt, who was apparently studying how an enzyme that plays a role in Parkinson’s disease is affected by different compounds, found widely and inexplicably varying results that were ultimately traced to the polypropylene tubes used to prepare the solutions. His team reportedly found a clear correlation between the particular test tubes used and their unusual results. According to…
Tag Archives BPA
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has reportedly delayed a decision about whether to list bisphenol A (BPA) under Proposition 65 because it lacks sufficient staff to complete needed research. OEHHA’s Developmental & Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DART) was apparently scheduled to decide whether to include BPA on the list of chemicals known to the state to be reproductive toxicants at a November 20, 2008, meeting, but the chemical, which is used in plastic bottles and to line metal cans, was removed from the agenda and will be addressed at “the earliest possible meeting date following the meeting on Nov. 20.” This may occur a year from now because the DART committee meets annually. See Inside Cal/EPA, October 31, 2008. Meanwhile, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy organization, has apparently called on major food companies and infant formula manufacturers to “immediately…
A subcommittee of FDA’s Science Board has released its peer review of the agency’s draft assessment of bisphenol A (or BPA) for use in food contact applications. The FDA’s draft assessment concluded, on the basis of industry-funded studies, that “an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA at current levels of exposure from food contact uses.” Further information about the draft assessment appears in issue 272 of this Update. According to the peer review, scheduled to be reviewed by FDA’s Science Board on October 31, 2008, the FDA properly focused on dietary exposures to children, “because they are likely to have both greater exposures and susceptibility than adults as a function of food consumption patterns, metabolism, vulnerability of developing systems and other factors.” The peer review then criticizes the agency’s assessment for its lack of “an adequate number of infant formula samples” and reliance “on mean values rather than accounting…
The Canadian government has reportedly declared that bisphenol A (or BPA) is a hazardous substance, and Health Canada will begin drafting regulations to prohibit the importation, sale and promotion of baby bottles made with the chemical. The agency’s scientists apparently contend that the primary exposure for newborns and infants is through the use of such baby bottles, particularly when they are heated, and from the chemical’s migration into infant formula from cans lined with the substance. While the levels of exposure are evidently below those posing a health risk, the government decided to take the action as a precaution, citing research showing that “low-level exposure to BPA, particularly at sensitive life cycle stages, may lead to permanent alterations in hormonal, developmental or reproductive capacity.” Health Canada will also apparently work with industry to reduce bisphenol A in the linings of infant formula cans. Responding to the regulatory initiative, the Grocery…
NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) have published a request for information, seeking “input on a number of key research areas that have been identified in recent evaluations of bisphenol A (BPA).” Submissions should be made online by December 1, 2008. Among the research needs identified are (i) “Studies of the concentrations of BPA and metabolites in human blood, urine, breast milk, amniotic fluid, placenta and other tissues, particularly in infants and young children”; (ii) “More complete assessment of sources of human exposure to BPA”; (iii) “The potential for effects on the immune system”; (iv) “The potential for metabolic disruptions leading to obesity, diabetes, or other metabolic disease”; and (v) “The potential for disruptions to the male reproductive tract including effects on sperm quantity and quality.” The information collected will apparently be used to develop future research and testing programs and may appear in future reports. See Federal Register, October…
The attorneys general for Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey have written to 11 companies asking them to discontinue the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles and infant formula packaging. Attorneys General Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Anne Milgram (N.J.) and Joseph R. Biden III (Del.) apparently asked manufactures to “affirm [their] commitment to safe products for our children,” citing recent studies that purportedly link BPA to “potential health problems.” The letter also noted that U.S. Representatives John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) have called for a Senate bill to ban the substance in all children’s products, as well as an investigation spearheaded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). “The preventable release of a toxic chemical directly into the food we eat is unconscionable and intolerable,” Blumenthal was quoted as saying. “Credible, escalating laboratory evidence demonstrates that even low-dose exposure to BPA…
