What does BPA research tell us?

BPA has been very widely studied by scientists and regulatory agencies around the world. The vast body of evidence on the safety of BPA is compelling.

In September 2010, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) 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. “

“Bisphenol A does not cause cancer. BPA belongs to a group of substances that can act in a similar way to some hormones and, as such, are sometimes called ‘endocrine disruptors’. Some studies in laboratory animals suggest that low levels of (consumed) BPA may have an effect on the reproductive system while other studies indicate no effect. Similar consequences in consumers at these low concentrations are considered unlikely because BPA is rapidly inactivated and then excreted in the urine in humans.”

To read the entire fact sheet, please click here.

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 Health Canada report, please click here.

On August 16, 2010, Statistics Canada released biomonitoring data, which included data on BPA. Steven G. Hentges, Ph.D., from the American Chemistry Council, concluded: “New data released today about consumer exposure to BPA in Canada is very reassuring and confirms that people are exposed to only minute levels that are readily eliminated from the body. Biomonitoring data from Statistics Canada shows that the typical levels of BPA found in the general Canadian population are extremely low – approximately 1,000 times below the safe intake level for BPA set by Health Canada for all age groups, including children and teenagers. Furthermore, BPA is found as a biologically inactive metabolite in urine, indicating that people have ample capability to metabolize and eliminate these trace levels of BPA from the body.”

To read the Statistics Canada report, please click here.

Click here to listen to Steve Hentges, Ph.D., from the American Chemistry Council discuss how government regulatory agencies evaluate the safety of BPA.

Scientific Publications

BPA has been extensively studied by scientists around the world.

In July 2010, Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) released a detailed review of two recent BPA studies* and concluded: “the results of the two studies do not substantiate the concerns for a specific toxic potential of bisphenol A adverse to neurological and behavioural development.”

While reviewing “In Utero and Lactational Exposure to Bisphenol A, in Contrast to Ethinyl Estradiol, Does Not Alter Sexually Dimorphic Behavior, Puberty, Fertility and Anatomy of Female LE Rats,” BfR concluded: “The results revealed no adverse effects in the low-dose range on behaviour and the development of female rat offspring whose dams were treated with bisphenol A during gestation and lactation.”

While reviewing “Developmental Neurotoxicity Study of Dietary Bisphenol A in Sprague-Dawley Rats,” BfR concluded: “The results obtained with these testing conditions did not provide any indications of adverse effects on neurological and behavioural development in the offspring. The study comprised also testing of very low dosages. Dietary administration of bisphenol A did not reveal indications for so-called “low-dose effects.”

Click here to read the full review:

* Ryan et al. (2010), “In Utero and Lactational Exposure to Bisphenol A, in Contrast to Ethinyl Estradiol, Does Not Alter Sexually Dimorphic Behavior, Puberty, Fertility and Anatomy of Female LE Rats” and Stump et al. (2010), “Developmental Neurotoxicity Study of Dietary Bisphenol A in Sprague-Dawley Rats.”

In October 2008, an expert scientific panel, convened by Gradient Corporation, published the results of its weight-of-the-evidence evaluation of low-dose reproductive and developmental effects of BPA. Based on its review of scientific literature available through July 2008, the panel concluded: “The weight of evidence does not support the hypothesis that low oral doses of BPA adversely affect human reproductive and developmental health.”

This evaluation is the third in a series that began with an evaluation, published in 2004, by an independent panel of scientific experts organized by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis.

More on BPA from the Oxford University Press Toxicological Sciences journal:

More on BPA from Environmental Health Perspectives:

On June 9, 2010, AEI Center for Regulatory Studies hosted “The Science and Policy of BPA." At this conference, policy experts and scientists participated in a nonpartisan dialogue about the risks and benefits of using, or choosing not to use, BPA and whether a more precautionary approach should be adopted in regulating chemicals.

Click here for the presentations, summary and audio and video coverage of the event: http://www.aei.org/event/100252

Reprinted with permission of the American Enterprise Institute for Public policy Research, Washington, DC.