Following the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) changed position on the safety of bisphenol-A, or BPA, a widely used component of plastic bottles and food packaging that it declared safe in 2008 in products, The Seattle Times reports that Washington state lawmakers are pushing for new legislation that will protect children under age 3 from exposure to such toxic chemicals in products, such as toys.
House Bill 1180 is up for a floor vote, and Senate Bill 6248 has already passed out of the Senate Committee on Health and Long-Term Care.
The FDA says BPA is “of some concern.”
Tuesday’s media coverage of possible BPA risks:
In a front-page story, the New York Times (1/16, A1, Grady) reported, “In a shift of position, the Food and Drug Administration is expressing concerns about possible health risks from bisphenol-A, or BPA, a widely used component of plastic bottles and food packaging that it declared safe in 2008.” On Friday, the FDA said it has “some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children.” While the agency plans to “join other federal health agencies in studying the chemical in both animals and humans,” federal “officials said there was no proof that BPA was dangerous to humans.” FDA principal deputy commissioner Dr. Joshua Sharfstein said, “If we thought it was unsafe, we would be taking strong regulatory action.”
Dr. Sharfstein explained, “We have some concern, which leads us to recommend reasonable steps the public can take to reduce exposure to BPA,” the Washington Post (1/16, Layton) added. “Sharfstein said the agency is conducting ‘targeted’ studies of BPA, part of a two-year, $30 million effort by the administration to answer key questions about the chemical that will help determine what action, if any, is necessary to protect public health.
USA Today (1/16, Szabo) reported that, along with the increased research, the FDA is “encouraging manufacturers to stop making baby feeding products containing BPA” and “wants to help manufacturers to find safer materials to line metal cans of liquid baby formula.” The FDA “also is looking into ways to expand its authority to regulate BPA, in case scientists do find definitive evidence of harm, says Joshua Sharfstein.”
The Boston Globe (1/16, Daley) reported that in precautionary recommendations Friday, HHS suggested consumers “throw away scratched cups and bottles with Bisphenol A because small amounts of the chemical can seep out and be ingested by children.”
CBS News (1/18) correspondent Kelly Wallace asks University of Missouri professor Fred Vom Saal, “How convinced are you that elevated levels of BPA in people’s bodies can lead to cancers, heart disease, obesity and early puberty?” Vom Saal replied, “I and other colleagues of mine at an NIH (National Institutes of Health) meeting said, with a very high level of confidence, we think Bisphenol A is a threat to human health.”
The San Francisco Chronicle (1/19) editorializes, “Our federal and state governments have dragged their feet in addressing the risks of BPA exposure – due mainly to relentless lobbying by the chemical industry, which has argued that the science is inconclusive.” The Chronicle notes that the FDA “deserves mild applause for reversing its position on BPA.”
Source: American Association for Justice.
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