Ottawa conference seeks global consensus on risks of bisphenol A

The Globe and Mail: "The World Health Organization has asked experts on the chemical to come to Ottawa this week for a five-day symposium that will help it evaluate the potential risks from BPA. Much of the attention will be focused on the migration of the compound from cans into food and beverages, and whether there are subpopulations, such as pregnant women and their fetuses, more at risk from these exposures."

The WHO meeting is being held in Canada, in part because it is the leading jurisdiction in the world on BPA regulation. The federal government was the first in the world to add the man-made chemical to a national toxic substances list last month, after having earlier banned baby bottles made from the compound, another international first.

The intense scrutiny of tin cans is a new stage in the ongoing safety debate over BPA, a key material in the manufacture of many plastics.

Worries about the chemical have already led several major food companies serving the Canadian market, including organic food purveyor Hain Celestial and ketchup king H.J. Heinz, to publicly commit to eliminating BPA.

The WHO gathering is supported by two heavyweight international regulators, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is currently conducting its own review of BPA, and the European Food Safety Authority, which recently concluded food exposures aren’t a concern.

The goal of the meetings “is to bring together some of the foremost experts in the world to review the most recent scientific information available on BPA and try to establish an international consensus on the safety of BPA, with a particular focus on food applications,” Health Canada says.