In an announcement, the US Food and Drug Administration has ruled that Bisphenol A is safe at the current levels found in foods.
The agency said it reached that conclusion based on a four-year review of more than 300 scientific studies.
The studies included some in which FDA toxicologists gave pregnant rats 100 to 1,000 times more bisphenol A than people ingest in their foods, and the amount of the BPA that passed to the unborn offspring was so low it could not be measured, the agency said. In addition, more than 99% of ingested bisphenol A quickly metabolized into an inactive form that would not be harmful, the FDA said.
“The available information continues to support the safety of BPA for the currently approved uses in food containers and packaging,” FDA said.
FDA’s conclusions are welcomed and should put to rest once and for all concerns about its safety for canned foods, John Rost, president of the North American Metal Packaging Alliance, said in a statement.
The safety declaration the FDA issued is the same as it has been making for years, but backed by additional information and analyses. That makes the assessment FDA’s strongest yet, the packaging alliance said.
“This newly released documentation further builds out the science story and supports and substantiates FDA’s assessment that BPA is safe,” Steven Hentges, who manages the American Chemistry Council’s Polycarbonate, BPA Global Group, told Bloomberg BNA in an e-mail. 2.3bn pounds of US Production.
Bisphenol A (CAS No. 80-05-7) is a major industrial chemical with 2.3bn pounds of domestic production in 2011, according to information chemical manufacturers reported to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Manufacturers include the Bayer Group, Dow Chemical Co., DuPont and Momentive Performance Materials Holdings LLC.
Much of the production volume is used to make industrial, consumer and medical devices, including airplane and automobile components, sports safety equipment and incubators.
BPA also is used to make plastics for water cooler jugs and epoxy resins, which provide a protective lining on the inside of some metal-based food and beverage cans.
Such food applications of the chemical have spurred worldwide consumer concern due to more than 800 academic studies that have concluded bisphenol A could harm reproduction and development.
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