Washington lawmakers consider BPA ban - Related Stories - ACC SmartBrief

ACC SmartBrief: "Lawmakers in Washington state heard testimony this week on a proposal to ban bisphenol A from food or drink containers for children ages 3 and younger. Grocers, can manufacturers and others testified against the ban, arguing that the chemical is safe and is economical for doing business, while an environmentalist supported the ban, testifying that BPA has been found in sediment in the Columbia River and is dangerous to local waterways"

A Cool, Refreshing Sip of Plastic, BPAs

gourmet.com: "Another scientific nail was hammered into the coffin of bisphenol A (BPA), a compound used to make hard plastic food-storage containers, including bottles for baby formula, soft drinks, and water. Writing in a recent issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, a group of Argentinian researchers reported that female rats that ingested BPA when young suffered lifelong changes to hormones that control reproduction."

In another recent study of BPA, a group of Canadian government scientists cheerfully announced that BPA levels in soft drinks poured from cans lined with the substance were well under Health Canada’s “tolerable daily intake” level for adults. That struck me as good news, until I read a little farther into the paper, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, and discovered that measurable quantities of BPA were found in virtually all the popular brands of carbinated beverages tested.

FDA Lays Out Plan To Ensure Quality Of Science At Agency

EasyBourse actualit: "Acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Frank Torti on Tuesday laid out a series of plans aimed at ensuring that the quality of science at the agency is robust.

A large part of that plan includes continuing recruitment efforts to bring talented people to the agency via a fellowship program and other initiatives. The FDA has been drastically understaffed and underfunded in the last several years, and critics say this deluge has made it difficult for the FDA to properly operate."

The FDA also provided its Science Board with an update on the agency's safety review of Bisphenol-A, or BPA, a chemical that hardens plastic and is commonly found in plastic baby bottles. The agency is planning to analyze and conduct a series of studies to determine how the chemical affects babies and whether current levels found in medical devices, such as in dental products, are safe. 

Many of the studies and analyses would take years to complete. 

Several environmental groups criticized the agency during a public comment period for continuing to study the issue as opposed to making a decision. Canada, taking what FDA officials describe as an "abundantly cautious" stance, has decided to remove baby products containing BPA from the market. 

The FDA has frequently said that it can't just follow Canada's lead and must come to its own conclusion regarding the chemical's safety. Torti said the agency "could make a regulatory decision tomorrow" regarding the chemical's safety if strong enough data comes out showing the chemical isn't safe at current levels of exposure found in products such as baby bottles and food cans. 

FDA Science Board talks BPA, again Archives

Enviroblog:: "Yesterday, for the I-don't-even-know-what-time-anymore, the Science Board of the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held another meeting to discuss the dangers of BPA. Sure, it's important to discuss chemicals and their toxicity for humans. But there comes a time for action. Like right now."

EWG senior scientist Dr. Anila Jacob testified during the public comment period, as did Dr. Urvashi Rangan from Consumer Reports and Steve Hentges a.k.a. "the only guy in the world that will look you in your eye and tell you to give BPA to your kids." Steve is, as you can guess, from American Chemistry Council, the industry group representing BPA manufacturers. 

Even though these sessions can be very educational, BPA contamination is a very serious public health issue. FDA officials offered little reassurance that they have is a plan to address quickly the known and serious routes of exposure, leaving millions of people at risk. There is enough evidence out there that BPA is harmful. There are also plenty of alternatives. 

FDA should have a timely and transparent plan for reducing BPA exposures for children and other sensitive groups. The Canadian government has already deemed infant exposures to be a serious concern and announced prompt action to reduce risks. The U.S. government should do no less.

JAMA article contends earlier study overstated validity of findings on BPA

Bio-medicine.org: "In a letter to be published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Dr. S. Stanley Young, Assistant Director of Bioinformatics at the National Institute of Statistical Sciences, and Ming Yu, University of British Columbia, highlight the statistical limitations of a study claiming that bisphenol A is associated with cardiovascular diagnoses, diabetes and abnormal blood level liver enzyme levels. 

The earlier study, published in JAMA (September 16, 2008) by Dr. Ian A. Lang and colleagues, did not adequately address the potential for multiple testing to result in a false positive result."

Bisphenol A can build up in babies, scientists warn

TheStar.com: "'I would advise a pregnant woman to try to reduce or entirely eliminate her exposure to bisphenol A,' said Len Ritter, a professor in Guelph's Department of Environmental Biology and executive director of the Canadian Network of Toxicology Centres.

Ritter published the study late last year in Environmental Health Perspectives, along with senior author Andrea Edginton, a Guelph graduate and now a professor in the University of Waterloo's school of pharmacy."

Infants at greater risk from food packaging chemical

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a commonly used chemical in the manufacture of food packaging and there are concerns over its safety, particularly for young children. A recent study suggests that there is a five times greater BPA plasma concentration in babies aged between three and six months compared with adults.

In 2008, both Canada and the USA raised concerns over the possible harmful effects of BPA on newborns and infants. BPA is used to make a variety of common products including baby bottles, as well as the linings of food and drinks cans. Long-term low dose exposure is thought to have negative health effects because BPA interacts with hormonal systems. As such, it is considered to be an endocrine disruptor.

The study simulated the plasma concentrations of BPA in young children under typical BPA exposure scenarios by using a mathematical model. Virtual adult humans were scaled to children based on the physiological differences between them. The main variables that were investigated were the BPA concentrations in the blood plasma and the urinary concentrations of BPA.

When given the same dose adjusted for weight (1 microgram per kilogram a day) the average steady state BPA plasma concentration in newborns was estimated to be 11 times greater than that in adults. This is due to an underdeveloped metabolism mechanism called 'glucuronidation', which helps remove toxins from the body. By the age of three months this ratio is reduced to two.

When the study then simulated the typical feeding scenarios for different ages as defined by the European Food and Safety Authority, it revealed a five times greater steady state BPA plasma concentration in three to six month olds when compared to adults.

The researchers suggest that current threshold limits are just sufficient for infants with normal or high tolerance of BPA, but may not be sufficient to protect babies with low tolerance rates.

Source: Edginton, A., Ritter, L. (2008). Predicting plasma concentrations of Bisphenol A in young children (< two years) following typical feeding schedules using a physiologically-based toxicokinetic model. Environmental Health Perspectives. Doi: 0.1289/ehp.0800073.

Contact: aedginto@uwaterloo.ca