Study finds low levels of bisphenol A in packaged food

Plastics New: "The conclusion of the WHO expert panel comes just nine days after a peer-reviewed study published online said that bisphenol A levels found in canned food—as well as fresh foods wrapped in plastic packaging in the U.S.—are nearly 1,000 times lower than the ‘tolerable daily intake levels’ set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Food Safety Authority.

The study was published in the scientific journal Environmental Science and Technology on Nov. 1. The researchers said they were not aware of “any other studies reporting BPA in U.S. fresh food, canned food, and food in plastic packaging [that have been] in peer reviewed journals.”

“The WHO expert panel reaffirms that consumer exposure to low levels of BPA do not accumulate and are rapidly eliminated from the body [and] that no public health measures are appropriate at this time,” said Steve Hentges, executive director of the polycarbonate/BPA global group of the American Chemistry Council in Washington."

BPA eliminated through urination: WHO

AFP: : "Bisphenol-A, or BPA, a chemical widely-used in plastic food containers and packaging, is mostly eliminated through the urine and does not accumulate in the body, the World Health Organization said Wednesday."

After reviewing recent studies on the impact of the chemical on human health, a panel of 30 experts from Canada, the United States and Europe meeting in Ottawa determined that the amounts of BPA measured in urine were equivalent to ingested amounts of the chemical.

Levels of the chemical were "very low, indicating that BPA is not accumulated in the body and is rapidly eliminated through urine," the WHO said.

Even so, the panel concluded, "recent experimental and epidemiological studies found associations between low BPA exposure levels and some adverse health outcomes."

The WHO statement added: "Until these associations can be confirmed, initiation of public health measures would be premature."

The WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations affirmed the widely-held belief that primary exposure to BPA is through the consumption of foods.

The chemical migrates from packaging such as baby bottles and coated food cans into the food.