A recent study has reportedly claimed that higher levels of urinary bisphenol A (BPA) “were associated with a higher odds of obesity … and abnormal waist circumference-to-height ratio” in children. Donna Eng, et al., “Bisphenol A and Chronic Disease Risk Factors in US Children, Pediatrics, September 2013. Using data from 3,000 children ages 6 to 18 who were enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2010, University of Michigan researchers evidently sought to evaluate cross-sectional associations between urinary BPA “and multiple measures of adiposity, cholesterol, insulin, and glucose.” The results suggested that although urinary BPA was associated with an increased risk of obesity, “there were no associations found between BPA and laboratory measures of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk,” an outcome that apparently contrasted with previous adult studies. “Our findings suggest the need for longitudinal analysis to elucidate temporal relationships between BPA exposure and the development of obesity…
Tag Archives BPA
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a draft assessment of consumer exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), provisionally concluding that “for all population groups diet is the major source of exposure to [BPA] and exposure is lower than previously estimated.” According to a July 25, 2013, news release, EFSA used exposure modeling and new human biomonitoring data to refine its estimate of dietary BPA exposure levels for infants and toddlers (375 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day) as well as the general population above age 18 (132 ng/kg bw/day). In addition, the agency found that dietary BPA exposure was highest among children ages 3 to 10, “explainable by their higher food consumption on a body weight basis.” “By comparison, these estimates are less than 1% of the current Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) for BPA (0.05 milligrams/kg bw/day) established by EFSA in 2006,” stated EFSA, which identified canned food and non-canned meat and meat…
Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) has reportedly vetoed legislation (LD 1181) that would have required food companies with more than $1 billion in annual sales to disclose their use of priority chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) to the state. According to his July 8, 2013, veto letter, LePage rejected the measure for lack of funding, writing that lawmakers failed to allocate adequate resources for the program’s administration. He also noted that the bill would have established the actions of other states as “credible scientific evidence,” “regardless of whether other states use scientific analyses to reach their conclusions,” while asking Maine agencies “once again to re-visit which chemicals are considered of ‘high concern.’” “In addition, the federal government, through potential amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act, may be exploring reasonable and consistent measures to address these concerns,” concluded LePage, who previously supported legislation designed to strengthen Maine’s Priority Chemicals…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule amending 21 C.F.R. 175.300 to reflect the industry’s abandonment of bisphenol A (BPA)- based epoxy resins as coatings in infant formula packaging. As of July 12, 2013, the food additive regulations will no longer provide for this use of BPA. According to FDA, its action followed Rep. Edward Markey’s (D-Mass.) petition asserting that industry had stopped using BPA in infant formula packaging; the action “is not “related to the safety of BPA.” See FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition—Constituent Update, July 11, 2013.
A recent study has allegedly linked higher urinary bisphenol A (BPA) levels to a greater risk of obesity in adolescent girls, raising questions about whether BPA “could be a potential new environmental obesogen.” De-Kun Li, et al., “Urine Bisphenol-A Level in Relation to Obesity and Overweight in School-Age Children,” PLoS One, June 2012. Researchers with Kaiser Permanente apparently analyzed data from 1,325 students enrolled in grades four through 12 in Shanghai, China, to conclude that among girls ages 9-12, a urinary BPA level in excess of 2 µg/L “was associated with more than two-fold increased risk of having weight” greater than the 90th percentile of the underlying population. In addition, the study noted that the association “showed a dose-response relationship with increasing urine BPA level associated with further increased risk of overweight.” “This finding is consistent with findings in experimental animal studies where exposure to high BPA level led to…
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has introduced legislation (S. 1124) that would require warning labels on all food packaging made with bisphenol A (BPA). Titled the “BPA in Food Packaging Right to Know Act,” the bill would require such packaging to bear labels stating, “This food packaging contains BPA, an endocrine-disrupting chemical,” in addition to directing the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a safety assessment of food containers with BPA. Citing more than 200 scientific studies that have purportedly linked BPA exposure to cancer, reproductive disorders, cardiac disease, diabetes, early puberty, and other problems, Feinstein said, “evidence continues to mount that BPA exposure is a risk to human health, especially for children . . . [and] it is essential that consumers know what chemicals are in the products they purchase. Our children should not be used as guinea pigs by chemical companies when their parents are left in…
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) has re-introduced legislation (H.R. 2248) that would prohibit the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in all food and beverage containers. Titled the “Ban Poisonous Additives Act 2013,” the bill would “ban reusable food and beverage containers (e.g., thermoses) and other food containers (e.g., canned food and formula) that contain BPA from being sold or introduced into commerce.” “It’s time to take the worry out of feeding America’s kids by taking the BPA out of infant formula, canned goods, and other food and beverage containers,” said Markey, who has been working to remove BPA from food and beverage containers since 2008. “Parents, consumers, and doctors are all asking to get BPA out of our bodies. It’s time to ban this chemical and move to safer alternatives.” The proposed legislation would also (i) permit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue one-year waivers if a…
Arguing that bisphenol A (BPA) exposure is particularly harmful for young children, infants and fetuses “because they lack mature systems of bodily detoxification,” a public health law and policy fellow at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law has called for governmental entities at every level to prohibit the chemical in any product “meant to be consumed or used by a young child, infant, or pregnant woman.” Leila Barraza, “A New Approach for Regulating Bisphenol A for the Protection of the Public’s Health,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Spring 2013. Part of a public health law conference symposium, this article discusses the mixed results of litigation against companies that use BPA in food and beverage contact materials and the failure of legislative initiatives that would restrict its use to take hold at the federal and state levels. The author calls on the Food and Drug Administration…
After a state court in California granted the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC’s) request for preliminary injunction and ordered Cal/EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to remove bisphenol A (BPA) from the list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity, OEHHA did so. OEHHA had argued that ACC’s request to enjoin OEHHA from “listing, or taking any further action in listing” BPA was moot because the Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) listing action took effect April 11, but the court said it had the authority to order OEHHA to remove the chemical from the list. According to the court, ACC demonstrated that it had a reasonable probability of prevailing on the merits of its claim that the National Toxicology Program report on which OEHHA relied for its listing did not identify BPA as causing reproductive toxicity. “[T]here was no definitive statement that BPA is a developmental toxicant…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has added bisphenol A (BPA) to the “list of chemicals known to the State to cause reproductive toxicity for purposes of Proposition 65” (Prop. 65). The listing, which will require warnings to consumers, took effect April 11, 2013. Failure to provide the warnings can result in significant financial penalties, and alleged violations can be enforced by private citizens. OEHHA based its determination on a National Toxicology Program report which concluded that the chemical “causes reproductive toxicity (developmental endpoint) at high doses.” BPA is commonly found in cash register receipts, CDs and DVDs, and food packaging material, including plastic containers and bottles, and metal cans and lids. When OEHHA proposed listing the chemical, it also proposed adopting a maximum allowable dose level (MADL) of 290 micrograms per day. Additional information about the MADL proposal appears in Issue 468 of this Update. When…
