BPA is used as a plasticizer in polycarbonate plastic, making plastic consumer goods shatterproof. It is also used in the epoxy resins on the liners of canned foods. Food contact materials are the primary way we are exposed to this endocrine disruptor.
Bisphenol-A mimics estrogen. This plastic additive has been linked to a host of hormonal problems, including early onset of puberty in girls, low sperm count, and it even poses a carcinogenic threat with ties to breast cancer. In utero exposure has been linked to obesity. BPA is present is traceable amounts in 95% of Americans.
Recently I stumbled upon what I thought was some pretty major news regarding bisphenol-A. Enviroblog and Eco Child's Play both reported that a proponent of BPA (they do exist: scary!) gave a donation that would seem to be quite of conflict of interest for the FDA.Connect the Dots:
- Who: Retired medical supply manufacturer Charles Gelman, once labeled the second worst polluter in Michigan by the state's Department of Natural Resources. Martin Philbert, chairman of the Food and Drug Administration panel readying to make a ruling on BPA's safety. Philbert is founder and director of University of Michigan’s Risk Science Center.
- What: $5 million donated from Gelman to the Risk Science Center, which is 25 times the center's annual budget.
- Why We Care: FDA released a draft assessment declaring BPA "safe," though the National Toxicology Program said that there is "some concern" with exposure for infants, children, and fetuses. Philbert's committee is slated to release a recommendation on whether the FDA should accept the draft assessment and continue to ignore the numerous studies which show problems with the chemical.
*Sigh.*
Dear FDA,
Remember us? We're the collective American consumer. If it's not too much trouble, would you mind making sure our children don't get their hormones out of whack from their drinking cups? Maybe, if you're not too busy, you'll help formula manufacturers come up with packaging that doesn't lower sperm count?
Gee, thanks.
Don't Blame Canada. On Saturday, Canada added bisphenol-A to its "Toxic" list. It will now be banned in baby bottles, as leaders there worry about the affects on children up to 18 months. Even advertising products containing BPA will be illegal, as Canadian leaders
immediately draft the world's first regulations to prohibit the importation, sale and advertising of plastic baby bottles that contain the chemical bisphenol A.
Great first step! Next, say safety activists, Canada should ban it in pacifiers, sippy cups, and canned foods. And perhaps protect the grown-up kiddies and look into the studies linking bisphenol-A to heart attacks, diabetes, and liver issues.
Because here's the thing: "traceable" levels of bisphenol-A may sound minimal, but as the Globe and Mail reports, it's actually a problem.
Health Canada tested 21 cans of liquid formula last year and detected BPA in every sample, ranging from 2 parts per billion to 10 ppb.
Although these are minute amounts – a part per billion is the equivalent of one second in about 32 years of elapsed time – the concentrations are around a thousand times higher than natural levels of estrogen in people.
And now, the politicos get involved. Attorneys general from New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware sent a joint letter to 11 bottle and formula manufacturers asking them to remove the chemical from their wares. From the AP:
"I am alarmed by recent studies confirming that BPA leaches from these products into the foods they hold," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in the letters. "The preventable release of a toxic chemical directly into the food we eat is unconscionable and intolerable."
Enviros Chime In:
Environmental Working Group has detailed the science behind the BPA problems, and has been tirelessly pushing the FDA to adopt strict rules, especially in children's products.
Natural Resources Defense Council released a petition yesterday calling on the FDA to prohibit the use of bisphenol-A in food contact materials. The powerful enviro group points out that most
exposure comes from these goods.
In light of the data suggesting that BPA is harmful to human health, and in response to the well-founded concerns of experts in the field, FDA must prohibit BPA from use in human food and food packaging, including in can linings and in beverage containers like baby bottles.
Argh! Parents have been pulling out their hair fretting about this toxin. We've been buying safe sip cups and baby bottles, using mason jars, and avoiding plastic water bottles.
It's grand that Canada took the monumental step to rid their kids of bisphenol-A. But what about those of us south of the border?
FDA, can you hear us?
Philbert's panel recommendation to the FDA is due by October 31. Scary.
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