Consumers Should Worry About BPA Says NIH Director | General News

Living the Science: "In interviews and testimony to congress last week, Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, said that consumers should 'absolutely' be worried about bisphenol A (BPA) and its potential effects on human health.

In her statements to congress and in interviews with news organizations like the Milwaukee Sentinal last week, Birbaum also compared BPA to lead and mercury and said about BPA, 'It's simple enough to avoid, so, why not avoid a problem?'"

Bisphenol A becomes test of leadership for FDA

Food navigator USA: "The straight-talking Commissioner vowed to sort out the thorny question of BPA in weeks not months – garnering almost universal praise that here at last was somebody who not only understood the importance of the issue but was prepared to bang some heads together to solve the problem. It was a bold declaration designed to challenge the perception of a food safety body too readily influenced by the industries it was charged with regulating.

And in a world where perception can be reality, it could also explain why BPA has so far failed to trigger the same level of anxiety in Europe. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) certainly has its critics but few would dispute the organisation is impartial and not afraid to ruffle industry feathers if that is where the evidence leads. While the FDA has wrestled with its lack of credibility, EFSA has been able to calmly assert that it sees no need to review its stance on BPA. It has provided a clear and consistent position that inspires consumer confidence and stability for industry."

Plastics component 'affects intestine'

Global Plastic Industry News Portal: "The French study focuses on the first organ to come in contact with the substance, the intestine.

The researchers orally administered doses of BPA to the rats that were equivalent to about 10 times less than the daily amount considered safe for humans, a statement from the Toulouse institute said.

They saw that BPA reduced the permeability of the instentinal lining through which water and essential minerals enter the body, it said.

They also found that newborn rats exposed to BPA in the uterus and during feeding have a higher risk of developing severe intestinal inflammation in adulthood.

The study 'shows the very high sensitivity on the intestine of Bisphenol A and opens news avenues for research' including to define new acceptable thresholds of the substance for humans, the institute said."

National Institute of Agronomic Research researchers in Toulouse found the digestive tract of rats react negatively to even low doses of the chemical also called BPA, the Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences journal reported.

Law To Ban BPA In Children's Products Announced By US Senators

Medical News Today: "Talking about the BPA-Free Kids Act on Sunday, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said there have been enough warning signs about the health risks of BPA and yet:

'We have to worry because manufacturers are still using this chemical widely, and it's getting into our foods,' Schumer told the press."

The BPA-Free Kids Act will make it illegal to make and sell infant and toddler beverage containers containing BPA. It will also require that any children's food or beverage container that is "composed in whole or in part be treated as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act".

Any violations of the BPA-Free Kids Act, including failure to test, certify and label products as required by the Act, will be liable to criminal and civil prosecutions.

The risk of BPA in glass jars in additon to canned food

Simplyboulder.com: "The fact that BPA could be transferred into ingredients before the final product is manufactured made me think of something else. A lot of ingredients such as fruit juices, vinegar, and olive oil are stored in plastic drums or totes before being manufactured into the final product. This made me wonder if these drums contain BPA and could contaminate our ingredients at Simply Boulder Culinary Sauces. I looked into this and luckily the plastic drums we use are made with HDPE which doesn’t contain BPA."

Migration of Bisphenol A from Can Coatings to Liquid Infant Formu...

IngentaConnect.: "To investigate the effect of storage time on BPA migration from can coatings to liquid infant formula at room temperature, samples of 21 canned liquid infant formula products from different cans but the same lot as those analyzed for BPA previously were analyzed for BPA again after storage at room temperature for 10 months. Additional migration of BPA from can coatings to liquid formula during the 10-month storage period at room temperature was observed for 9 of the 21 products, with increases in BPA levels ranging from 29.8 to 110%"

Significant differences between the 2007 and 2008 results (P = 0.026) were observed for only one brand of product, which had the lowest BPA levels in the 2007 survey. The BPA levels in the milk-based formula products analyzed in 2008 (mean, 6.8 ng/g) were significantly higher (P = 0.00023) than those in the milk-based formula products analyzed in 2007 (mean, 5.0 ng/g), whereas the differences in BPA levels between the soya-based formula products analyzed in 2008 (mean, 5.3 ng/g) and those analyzed in 2007 (mean, 5.8 ng/g) were not significant (P = 0.097). No obvious correlation between the product expiration date and the level of BPA migration from can coatings was observed.

Document Type: Research article

UN agencies to hold bisphenol A safety summit

UN agencies to hold bisphenol A safety summit: "Two United Nations bodies are to convene an international meeting on the safety of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging over growing anxiety of the chemical’s possible threat to human health.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said the meeting, to be held in Canada in October 2010, was being organised in response to the general uncertainty over the safety of BPA. They pin-pointed the misgivings over a raft of possible adverse human health effects from the chemical on reproduction, the nervous system and on behavioural development, as well as the relatively higher exposure of very young children compared with adults."