A recent meeting in Germany gathered international scientists from industry, academia, and government to assess the concerns about bisphenol A, or BPA. Previous issues of Pulse of Health Freedom have followed the FDA’s conflicting actions on the chemical, which is linked to reproductive ills as well as neurobehavioral concerns. The group found agreement on several key issues: how people are exposed to BPA, how people metabolize BPA, and how to test for BPA.
The international group agreed that:
• newborns have between three and eleven times more BPA in their systems than adults;
• a pivotal study used by the FDA to declare BPA used in food and drink containers to be safe was authored by a team of industry scientists. According to the group, the study had collected only minimal data on behavior and no data on precancerous lesions, a finding about which the National Toxicology Program has already voiced concern;
• the National Toxicology Program has expressed concern about precancerous lesions in the prostates of the unborn exposed to BPA, as well as the effects of low doses of BPA on behavior and the brain; and
• the levels of BPA found in people indicate exposure exceeds that found in food and drink.
As AAHF has pointed out, dental and orthodontic treatment is another major point of entry into children.
Canada has now become the first country to formally declare BPA hazardous to humans. Additionally, Canada has informed manufacturers that BPA is no longer permitted as a chemical in baby bottles.
The FDA has failed the American public regarding BPA. A recent Washington Post editorial points out that vested interest dollars are expected to color the FDA’s final recommendation on BPA, which is expected this month.