FDA Cites Lack of Data in Declining to Ban BPA

from wsj.com

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it lacks the scientific information to ban the chemical bisphenol A from being used in food containers.

The chemical, known as BPA, has been linked to possible health problems of the brain, breast and prostate. It is commonly used in can linings and plastic containers to help prevent the growth of germs, and to make plastics more impervious to damage.

The environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council asked the FDA in 2008 to ban BPA, contending in a petition to the agency that the chemical "causes serious adverse health effects." A consent agreement in an NRDC lawsuit against the agency required the FDA to decide on a ban by Saturday.

The FDA stressed that its answer Friday was by no means a final one, and that it hoped to issue a more definitive ruling on BPA later this year.

Rising public concern has prompted most makers of baby bottles and cups for infants and toddlers to phase out BPA in recent years. But the inside lining of most metal cans on supermarket shelves is still made with a BPA-based epoxy resin.

More than 90% of the roughly 130 billion cans produced in the U.S. yearly are coated with BPA-based epoxy, according to the North American Metal Packaging Alliance, an industry group representing can makers. The group said the chemical is safe and the best option to keep canned foods free of threats like botulism.

Last year, the American Medical Association recognized BPA as an "endocrine-disrupting agent" and urged that "BPA-containing products with the potential for human exposure be clearly identified."

Linda Birnbaum, director of the government's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, said that while some research suggests there are safety risks associated with BPA, "we don't have all the answers yet." Government officials said the U.S. has $30 million in studies under way on BPA.

read the story at wsj.com