Expert Assessments

Over the decades that BPA has been widely used, many experts have studied this compound, its properties, and its potential impact on consumers and the environment.

Expert panels, scientific programs and regulatory agencies have extensively studied the safety of BPA. Some recent assessments include:

INTERNATIONAL

  • World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): In November 2010, the WHO and the FAO jointly held an ad hoc expert meeting to assess the safety of BPA. The meeting included representatives from European Food Safety Authority, Health Canada, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the US Food and Drug Administration. The experts concluded that "food is by far the main source of bisphenol A (BPA) exposure and that other sources are of minor relevance." The experts were also able to model circulating levels of BPA in the human body, and found that they "are very low, indicating that BPA is not accumulated in the body and is rapidly eliminated." While "a few recent experimental and epidemiological studies found associations between low BPA exposure levels and some adverse health outcomes, the meeting concluded that, at this stage, it is difficult to interpret the relevance of these studies in the light of current knowledge of this compound. Until these associations can be confirmed, initiation of public health measures would be premature." To read the entire summary report, please click here.

NORTH AMERICA

United States

Government Regulatory Experts:

  • U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

    FDA releases docket of BPA information: On April 5, 2010, FDA released its docket of information pertinent to BPA. As a follow up to its January 2010 statement on BPA, FDA opened this docket to provide transparency of the scientific review process. To see FDA's January statements supporting the continued safe use of BPA, and noting that the agency would open a docket, please click here. To visit the docket online, please click here.

    FDA supports baby bottles with BPA: In January 2010, FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein stated that "if [the Food and Drug Administration] thought it was unsafe, we would be taking strong regulatory action." -- The New York Times

    FDA releases draft safety assessment: In August 2008, the FDA released a draft safety assessment of BPA in food-contact products such as baby bottles, water bottles and other food containers. Overall, the FDA concluded: "an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA at current levels of exposure from food contact uses, for infants and adults."
     
  • Environment Protection Agency (EPA): EPA released its bisphenol A (BPA) Action Plan in March 2010. Importantly, the agency clearly indicated that it "does not intend to initiate regulatory action under TSCA at this time on the basis of human health." To read more about what EPA's BPA Action Plan said, click here.
     
  • U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction: In September 2008, the NTP Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction report on the potential for BPA to affect human reproduction or development confirmed that human exposure to BPA is very low. The report noted only "some concern" for BPA for certain human health impacts, and did not note any higher level "concern" or "serious concern" for any possible human health impact

Physician Organizations

  • American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) recommends continuing application of BPA in dental sealants: In September 2010, the journal Pediatrics published a review of the use of BPA-derived compounds in dental sealants and composites. The authors conclude that "On the basis of the substantiated preventive benefits of resin-based dental sealants and given the brevity of elevated exposure to BPA after sealant application, we recommend continuing application of resin-based sealants in dental practice and in school-- based/school-linked dental-sealant programs." To access the entire review, click here. Select quotes from media coverage of the study include:

    "Overall, the benefits of dental sealants outweigh the potential risks of a brief BPA exposure, says co-author Burton Edelstein, president of the Children's Dental Health Project, who continues to recommend the procedures. BPA generally passes out of the body quickly and doesn't build up in tissue."--"Dental sealants temporarily raise BPA levels," USA Today (September 7, 2010)

    "Dr. Joel Berg, chair of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Washington, strongly believes sealants are safe and effective. 'There's more estrogen in a mother's kiss than there is in a sealant,' he says."--"Dental sealants expose kids to small amounts of BPA, study says," CNN Health Blog (September 7, 2010)

    According to the American Dental Association, "The ADA believes any concern about potential BPA exposure from dental sealants or composites is unwarranted at this time." To read the entire statement, click here.

Canada

  • Health Canada: On August 26, 2010, Health Canada released a new report that reviewed the amount of BPA found in canned beverages. According to Health Canada, the report, "further confirm[s] that exposure to BPA from canned beverage products is very low and poses no health or safety concerns to the general population." To read the full report, please click here.

    In a June 2010 review on BPA in canned food products, Health Canada examined BPA levels in 78 canned food products. Health Canada concluded that "The results of this survey confirm that exposure to BPA from canned food products is very low and poses no health or safety concerns to the general population." To read the summary of this Health Canada study, please click here.

    In its August 2008 BPA Health Risk Assessment, Health Canada reviewed current data to assess the potential for health risks arising from dietary sources of BPA. Health Canada concluded that, "Based on the overall weight of evidence, Health Canada's Food Directorate has concluded that the 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. This conclusion has been re-affirmed by health agencies in other countries, including notably the United States, the European Union and Japan." To read the full report, please click here.

    In addition to the studies, reviews and assessments noted above, Health Canada has conducted multiple other scientific assessments on BPA. For additional information or to read the results of these assessments, please click here.

EUROPE

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

  • The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently announced a December 2011 opinion re-confirming the existing safe intake level for BPA: This recent opinion was driven by a report issued by France's Agency for Food Health Safety (ANSES) that claimed that minimal doses of BPA may have negative health effects on laboratory animals as well as on humans. Based on its findings, ANSES called for the substitution of BPA in certain applications. However, EFSA's review of the ANSES report found that it was limited to hazard identification only, while EFSA's previous 2010 review, which critically analyzed more than 800 recent studies with relevant scientific information on BPA, provided a full assessment of risk from human dietary exposure to BPA. For the majority of possible health effects, the EFSA Panel stated that there is no new information in the recent literature that would change its views as expressed in its 2010 opinion, and therefore determined that "the information in the ANSES report does not change the views of the Panel expressed in the 2010 opinion." This opinion re-confirmed the Tolerable Daily Intake for BPA of 0.05 mg/kg body weight set by EFSA in its 2010, 2008 and 2006 opinions, and is consistent with the findings of independent food safety authorities across the world, including Germany, the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, the US and Australia and New Zealand.
  • EFSA increased safe intake level for BPA: In January 2007, the EFSA released a comprehensive scientific assessment of BPA that was conducted by a panel of independent scientific experts. It increased by five times the safe intake level for BPA (known as the Tolerable Daily Intake or TDI). In July and October 2008 and in September 2010, EFSA reviewed new studies and confirmed its position that BPA-based polycarbonate and epoxy food contact materials can continue to be safely used.

Germany

  • Advisory Committee of the German Society for Toxicology (2011), "Critical evaluation of key evidence on the human health hazards of exposure to bisphenol A": In April 2011, Critical Reviews in Toxicology released a review on BPA conducted by the Advisory Committee, which concluded, "BPA exposure represents no noteworthy risk to the health of the human population, including newborns and babies." Furthermore, it found, "To date, more than 5,000 studies on BPA have been published. It is obvious that this should be enough information to resolve the controversy, but nevertheless this has not yet been achieved and those not directly involved in BPA research are usually puzzled by the never-ending and sometimes emotional debate." After reviewing all available evidence and controversial arguments, the Committee concluded that the "current Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) level for BPA is adequately justified." In its specific evaluation of studies reporting that low doses of BPA cause adverse health effects in laboratory animals, the Committee found that these studies "failed to meet minimal quality criteria for experimental design and statistical analysis" and that their results were inconsistent with more robust studies on similar endpoints. A full report can be found here.
     
  • German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR, Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung) reported that low-dose BPA does not lead to health risk for infants and children: In January 2010, BfR wrote, "Following careful examination of all studies, in particular the studies in the low dose range of bisphenol A, BfR comes to the conclusion in its scientific assessment that the normal use of polycarbonate bottles does not lead to a health risk from bisphenol A for infants and small children. BfR is not alone in this assessment. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) share this opinion. Japan, which has conducted its own studies on bisphenol A, does not see any need for a ban either.
     
  • BfR noted no negative health risks of giving babies BPA bottles: In January 2006, the BfR stated: "The BfR does not recognize any health risk for babies that are fed from baby bottles made of polycarbonate."

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND

  • Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) stated that BPA has no health risk: In November 2010, FSAN) updated their "Bisphenol A (BPA) and food packaging" fact sheet. According to FSANZ: "FSANZ is very aware of and sensitive to the public concerns about the potential adverse health effects of exposure to Bisphenol A, but remains of the opinion that there is no health risk for consumers, including infants, as ongoing testing has revealed that BPA may only be found at extremely low levels in polycarbonate plastic baby bottles and in infant formula. This view on risk is also shared by other international food regulators in Canada, the United States and Europe." To read the entire fact sheet, please click here.
     
  • FSANZ concludes that BPA does not cause cancer: In March 2009, FSANZ concluded that "BPA does not cause cancer" and that BPA exposure levels for both infants and adults are very small and do not pose a risk to human health.

ASIA

Japan

  • Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) states BPA does not pose any unacceptable risk to health: In its most recent comprehensive BPA risk assessment completed in 2011, the Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology concluded that "the risk of BPA with regard to human health was believed to be very small." This conclusion is consistent with AIST's previous 2005 BPA risk assessment, as well as with the many other agencies that have reviewed the science on BPA. Along with many other new studies, AIST specifically incorporated results from new research conducted by FDA to answer key questions and clarify uncertainties about BPA. Also of note, in its 2011 assessment, the data uncertainty factor was reduced to 25 as compared to 100 in the previous assessment, indicating higher confidence in the scientific data supporting the 2011 conclusion. To learn more about the AIST risk assessment, please click here.