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FDA Not Worried About BPA but Critics Demand Moratorium

Studies link the chemical to possible hormonal changes

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 15, 2008

• Shower Curtains May Be Hazardous to Your Health • ‘Killer Cribs’ Study Finds Toxins in Common Baby Products • FDA Not Worried About BPA but Critics Demand Moratorium • Wal-Mart Bans BPA, Other Retailers Likely to Follow • War on Plastic Toys Escalates • Plastic War Hits The Toy Industry • Groups Warn Baby Bottles Leach Toxic Substance • Study Warns Chemical In Baby Shampoo May Cause Harm • 'Toxic' Water Bottles Take Top Spot in Dubious Data Awards • Group Hits Apple Over 'Toxic' iPhone • California Bans Plastic-Softening Chemical in Toys • Group Warns of Polluted Air Inside Cars • Watch Out for Hidden Toy Hazards

The controversy over the use of bisphenol A -- or BPA -- in many consumer plastics isn't going away, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may have further inflamed it. Public health advocates are taking sharp issue with an FDA statement that says, in effect, consumers should not be concerned about the chemical and its use in plastic baby bottles.

A number of retailers have already begun to shy away from bisphenol A. Wal-Mart says it plans to drop baby bottles that contain it and Toys R Us is considering a similar move.

In testimony before a Senate subcommittee, FDA Associate Commissioner for Science Norris Alderson said the agency is relying on a large body of scientific evidence that shows the chemical can safely be used in plastics that hold food and beverages.

Critics charge the evidence has mostly been supplied by the industry, which wants to keep on using bisphenol A. They say there are plenty of studies that have, at the very least, raised questions about potential health problems in laboratory animals exposed to BPA.

Dozens of state and national environmental health organizations in the U.S. and Canada are calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of bisphenol A in baby bottles and other food and beverage containers, based on the results of a study that they say demonstrates the toxic chemical BPA leaches from popular plastic baby bottles when heated.

BPA, a synthetic sex hormone that mimics estrogen, is used to make hard polycarbonate plastic. Ninety-five percent of all baby bottles on the market are made with BP, according to the study.

The results of the U.S. study show that, when new bottles are heated, those manufactured by Avent, Evenflo, Dr. Brown's and Disney/First Years leached between 4.7 to 8.3 parts per billion of BPA.

Moratorium demanded

"The only appropriate response to evidence that a known toxic chemical leaches from baby products is to phase it out and replace it with safer products in order to prevent harm wherever possible," said Mike Schade, a researcher with the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, when the study was first issued.

"Environmental health organizations from across the U.S. are calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of BPA in baby bottles and other food and beverage containers," he said.

Recent research on animals shows that BPA can be harmful by disrupting development at doses below these levels. The bottles used in the study were purchased at retailers across the country in nine states: Babies"R"Us, CVS, Target, Toys"R"Us, Walgreens, and Wal-Mart.

Earlier this year, Michigan Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak launched a Congressional investigation to ascertain the safety of BPA used to line the cans of infant formula products. The study was commissioned by Environmental Defense of Canada in cooperation with The Work Group for Safe Markets in the U.S., and researched by the laboratory of Frederick vom Saal, PhD., at the University of Missouri.

Banned at Wal-Mart

Last month, Wal-Mart said it will stop selling baby bottles made with BPA in its U.S. stores early next year.

The announcement followed the release of a draft report from the U.S. National Toxicology Program that expressed concern that BPA, used to make plastic, could cause behavioral changes in infants and children and trigger the early onset of puberty in females.

Meanwhile, a new study found that BPA can alter the activity of genes in normal breast cells in ways that resemble what is found in extremely dangerous breast cancers.

The study, conducted by researchers in California and published this month in the journal Cancer Research, found that many genes in non-cancerous breast cells exposed to trace amounts of BPA began acting in a way that closely resembled the gene activity in highly aggressive breast tumors that led to an increased likelihood that women would die of the disease.

Read more about BPA.

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