Citing research studies alleging links between exposure to bisphenol A and various adverse health effects, U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have introduced the BPA in Food Packaging Right to Know Act. “Knowledge is empowering, and knowledge about BPA ingredients can also stimulate further reforms by the marketplace,” Leahy was quoted as saying. Among other things, the draft bill would require the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a safety assessment of low-dose, long-term exposure to BPA and any resulting potential negative health effects on vulnerable populations (e.g., pregnant women, children, senior adults) as well any potential adverse health effects on populations with high exposure to the chemical, such as workers involved in product manufacturing processes. The proposal would also mandate labels on food packaging containing BPA to carry the warning statement: “This food packaging contains BPA, an endocrine-disrupting chemical, according to…
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The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has extended the deadline for public comments on hazard identification materials on BPA and female reproductive toxicity from April 6 to April 20, 2015, in response to a request from the American Chemistry Council. OEHHA has also announced that the May 7 meeting of its Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC) to consider the addition of bisphenol A (BPA) to its list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity will be continued on May 21 in the same location if the committee is unable to finish its deliberations on May 7. Citing the availability of new epidemiological and toxicological data, DARTIC will assess “whether BPA has been clearly shown by scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principles to cause female reproductive toxicity.” After adding BPA to the list of reproductive toxicants under the Safe…
The Technical University of Denmark’s (DTU’s) National Food Institute has rejected the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) recent bisphenol A (BPA) assessment, claiming that the agency’s decision to set the tolerable daily intake (TDI) at 4 micrograms per kilogram body weight per day does not adequately protect consumers. After examining EFSA’s toxicological evaluation, National Food Institute’s researchers criticized the scientific opinion for not applying an appropriate uncertainty factor and failing to take into account animal studies allegedly showing the effects of BPA on reproductive health and neurological development. The National Food Institute has instead proposed a TDI of less than 0.7 µg/ kg bw/day to protect against “endocrine disrupting effects.” In particular, the scientists note that, according to EFSA, men and women at the highest exposure levels are currently exposed to more than 1 microgram of BPA per kilogram per day, “while children and teenagers are exposed to between 1.26 and…
The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has announced a May 7, 2015, meeting of its Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC) to consider the addition of bisphenol A (BPA) to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity. Citing the availability of new epidemiological and toxicological data, DARTIC will assess “whether BPA has been clearly shown by scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principles to cause female reproductive toxicity.” OEHHA has also made available hazard identification materials on BPA and female reproductive toxicity and requested public comments by April 6, 2015. After adding BPA to the list of reproductive toxicants under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65) in April 2013, OEHHA delisted the substance following a court injunction. In January 2015, the court ruled that the agency could list BPA under Prop. 65…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavorings and Processing Aids (CEF) has issued a scientific opinion finding that bisphenol A (BPA) poses “no health concern for any age group from dietary exposure or aggregated exposure.” Published January 21, 2015, the scientific opinion assessed exposure in three ways: (i) “external (by diet, drinking water, inhalation, and dermal contact to cosmetics and thermal paper”; (ii) “internal exposure to total BPA (absorbed dose of BPA, sum of conjugated and unconjugated BPA)”; and (iii) “aggregated (from diet, dust, cosmetics and thermal paper), expressed as oral human equivalent dose (HED) referring to unconjugated BPA only.” Using new data and methodologies, EFSA previously established a temporary tolerable daily intake (t-TDI) for BPA at 4 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day, from 50 µg/kg bw/day. This latest scientific opinion confirms that the highest estimates for human exposure to BPA…
A study claiming that low doses of bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol S (BPS) increased brain-cell growth in embryonic zebrafish—which later exhibited hyperactive behaviors as larvae—has urged health authorities to reconsider the use of linear dose-response relationships to set tolerable daily intake levels. Cassandra Kinch, et al., “Low-dose exposure to bisphenol A and replacement bisphenol S induces precocious hypothalamic neurogenesis in embryonic zebrafish,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2015. After exposing embryonic zebrafish to the two substances at levels (0.0068 µM) similar to those found in rivers that supply two major urban centers, University of Calgary researchers reported that BPA and BPS caused “180% and 240% increases, respectively, in neuronal birth (neurogenesis) within the hypothalamus, a highly conserved brain region involved in hyperactivity.” This increased neurogenesis apparently relied not on estrogen receptors as predicted, but on “androgen receptor-mediated up-regulation of aromatase.” Based on these results, the study’s authors…
A California state court has lifted an injunction that barred bisphenol A (BPA) from placement on the list of reproductive toxicants mandated under Proposition 65, the 1986 law requiring warnings to the public about exposure to chemicals “known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.” Am. Chemistry Council v. Office of Envtl. Health Hazard Assessment, No. 34-2013- 00140720 (Super. Ct. Cal., Cty. of Sacramento, order entered December 18, 2014). BPA joined the Prop. 65 list in April 2013, but a court granted the injunction barring its inclusion one week later. The court assessed whether the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) abused its discretion in finding substantial evidence that the regulatory criteria to list BPA were met. It found the American Chemical Council’s (ACC’s) argument that an entry to the list must be supported by “clear evidence that the chemical is known, not merely suspected, to cause cancer…
The French Directorate-General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) has released a guidance document detailing the implementation of new rules that ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in all food contact materials in their finished state as of January 1, 2015. The second part of a law that first prohibited BPA in products intended for children younger than age 3, the new rules apparently bar the use of BPA in (i) packaging and articles intended to come into contact with food, and (ii) containers and utensils, including kitchen utensils, tableware and dishes. These rules do not apply to industrial materials and equipment used in the production, processing, storage, or transportation of foodstuffs. See DGCCRF Guidance, December 8, 2014. In a related development, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced that it has finalized a scientific opinion on BPA. Slated for release in January 2015, the…
Researchers with Seoul National University have published a study allegedly finding that people who drank soy milk from cans containing bisphenol A (BPA) exhibited a statistically significant increase in blood pressure. Sanghyuk Bae and Yun-Chul Hong, “Exposure to Bisphenol A From Drinking Canned Beverage Increases Blood Pressure,” Hypertension, December 2014. Involving 60 adults older than age 60, the study tracked blood pressure and urinary BPA levels over the course of three visits, during which participants consumed soy milk from either two glass bottles, two cans or one glass bottle and one can. Not only did urinary BPA increase by approximately 1600 percent in volunteers who consumed canned soy milk as opposed to soy milk from glass bottles, but systolic blood pressure also increased by approximately 4.5 mm Hg. “Because these results confirm findings from other studies, doctors and patients, particularly those with high blood pressure or heart disease, should be…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated its online bisphenol A (BPA) information to reaffirm its conclusion that the substance is safe for approved food-packaging uses. According to the revised statement, agency experts in toxicology, analytical chemistry, endocrinology, epidemiology, and other fields completed “a four-year review of more than 300 scientific studies” without finding any information that would “prompt a revision of FDA’s safety assessment of BPA in food packaging at this time.” “Based on FDA’s ongoing safety review of scientific evidence, the available information continues to support the safety of BPA for the currently approved uses in food containers and packaging,” said the agency. “FDA will also continue to consult with other expert agencies in the federal government, including the National Institutes of Health (and the National Toxicology Program), the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” See…
