foodconsumer.org: BPA hazards ringing alarm bells

BPA hazards ringing alarm bells
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admin on 05/28/2009 11:51:00
 
Thursday May 28, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- While cities, states and entire
countries have banned the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in certain food containers,
the Food and Drug Administration has yet to issue a verdict on the use of the
man-made chemical.
Used to make baby bottles and plastic water bottles, BPA is a man-made chemical
that has government health agencies and Washington lawmakers increasingly
alarmed.
Numerous studies have linked BPA, also called environmental estrogen, to breast
and prostate cancer, diabetes, heart disease and hyperactivity. It has also been
shown to affect reproduction and brain development in animal studies.
Susan Cruzan, of the FDA’s public affairs office, was asked the FDA’s
official stand on the issue of BPA. She stated today (May 26) in an on-line
interview that Dr. Jesse Goodman was recently appointed the FDA’s chief
scientist.
“One of his responsibilities will be to provide new leadership and take a
fresh look at this important issue from a scientific and policy position,
incorporating emerging science and appropriate input from both inside and
outside the agency,” Cruzan stated.
In January 2009, the FDA held a meeting with manufacturers of BPA, along with
Canadian representatives, “to discuss what is being done to help minimize the
levels of the chemical in food,” according to their press release.
The statement concluded: “With regard to BPA generally, based on all available
evidence, the consensus of regulatory agencies in the United States and Canada,
Europe and Japan is that the current levels of exposure to BPA through food
packaging do not pose an immediate risk to the general population, including
infants and young children.”
Meanwhile, public opinion against the use of the chemical continues to grow.
“There is a deep sense of public outrage around BPA,” Janet Nudelman, of the
Breast Cancer Fund, told Watchdog Reports last week. “This is a chemical so
powerful it can cross the placenta and negatively affect the developing
fetus.”
Leaders from the House of Representatives and the Senate introduced a bill in
March to establish a federal ban of BPA in all food and beverage containers. A
day before the Congressional action, Sunoco, the gas and chemical company, told
investors it was refusing to sell BPA to companies for use in containers for
children younger than three.
On April 18, Canada became the first country to ban the chemical from use in
baby bottles. On May 8, Minnesota issued a statewide prohibition on the use of
BPA, and on May 12, Chicago’s city council passed the nation’s first
municipal ban on BPA-made baby bottles and cups.
A Harvard University study released last Thursday found that participants who
drank from polycarbonate bottles showed a two-thirds increase of BPA in their
urine. It was the first study to show that BPA leeches into the urine in
substantial amounts.
Earlier studies have shown that BPA acts as an endocrine disruptor in animals,
causing early onset of sexual maturation and decreased sperm production in
offspring.
In April of 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a draft
report stating that “the possibility that bisphenol-A may alter human
development cannot be missed.” The HHS report suggested that exposure to the
chemical during infancy could cause changes in prostate and mammary tissue that
could raise the risk of cancer later in life.
In March of 2009, the top six baby bottle makers stopped using BPA in their
manufacturing plants. Mega-retailer WalMart and ToysRUs pulled BPA bottles from
their shelves in April.
(By Sheilah Downey, and edited by Heather Kelley)