FDA Investigating Health Hazards of BPA in Plastic Bottles, Food Packaging
The FDA is now investigating health risks from BPA, or bisphenol-A, a commonly used component used to make plastic bottles and food packaging. The FDA declared the substance safe in 2008, but it may now reverse that decision.
BPA is the chemical that has been banned from baby bottles. But it may be dangerous for adults, too.
The New York Times reports:
The agency said Friday that it had "some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children," and would join other federal health agencies in studying the chemical in both animals and humans.
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Concerns about BPA are based on studies that have found harmful effects in animals, and on the recognition that the chemical seeps into food and baby formula, and that nearly everyone is exposed to it, starting in the womb.
But health officials said there was no proof that BPA was dangerous to humans.
"If we thought it was unsafe, we would be taking strong regulatory action," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the principal deputy commissioner of the drug agency, at a news briefing.
Nonetheless, health officials suggested a number of things people could do to limit their exposure to BPA, like throwing away scratched or worn bottles or cups made with BPA (it can leak from the scratches), not putting very hot liquids into cups or bottles with BPA and checking the labels on containers to make sure they are microwave safe. The drug agency also recommended that mothers breastfeed their infants for at least 12 months; liquid formula contains traces of BPA.
BPA has been used since the 1960s to make hard plastic bottles, sippy cups for toddlers and the linings of food and beverage cans, including the cans used to hold infant formula and soda. Until recently, it was used in baby bottles, but major manufacturers are now making bottles without it. Plastic items containing BPA are generally marked with a 7 on the bottom for recycling purposes.
The chemical can leach into food, and a study of more than 2,000 people found that more than 90 percent of them had BPA in their urine. Traces have also been found in breast milk, the blood of pregnant women and umbilical cord blood.
The FDA is going to spend $30 million in the next two years to do extensive testing on BPA, according to health officials. BPA is banned in Canada, Chicago and parts of New York, but only for products meant for children. Depending on the outcome of the FDA's testing, the substance could end up being banned entirely.
