In its report on the toxicity of bisphenor A (BPA) at low doses, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded “no new evidence significant enough to revise the current Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) for BPA”.
In addition to that, EFSA did also not find evidence of neurobehavioural toxicity of BPA convincing enough to advice against the substance.
– Reaction from HEAL
– Reaction from BEUC
Bisphenol A is known as the endocrine active substance, possibly associated with negative health impacts, and frequently used in the production of reusable drinking bottles, baby feeding bottles, plastic containers, soda cans and food packages. It has been found that small amounts of BPA can potentially enter food and drinks they contain.
BPA is permitted for use in food contact plastics in the European Union by the Commission Directive 2002/72/EC of 6 August 2002 relating to plastic materials and articles intending to come into contact with foodstuffs.
The present report published by EFSA followed a request from the European Commission to the Scientific Panel of EFSA on food contact materials, enzymes, flavourings and processing aids (CEF) to:
– carry out a review of recent (2007-2010) scientific literature on the toxicity of BPA to assess whether the TDI should be set at lower level than the current one (which is 0.05mg/kg body weight);
– assess a new study on possible neurobehavioural effects (toxicity to the brain and central nervous system) of BPA in rats, known as the Stump study (2009);
– advise on the risk assessment by Denmark’s DTU Food Institute which led to the Danish ban of BPA in food contact materials for children aged 0-3 years.
On basis of the review and debates, the EFSA Panel concluded that the study in question by Stump et al. (2009) “cannot be used for the risk assessment of BPA, because of large variability in the data“.
The Panel concluded that the currently available data insufficiently indicate any neurobehavioural toxicity to support a concern for BPA.
For more information:
EFSA updates advice on bisphenol A – news story on EFSA website
EPHA related articles:
– [->art3813]
– [->art3814]
– [->art3444]
– [->art2007]
– [->art2057]
