GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- A growing number of consumer, environmental and medical groups are urging the government to act now to protect infants from a chemical found in plastics called bisphenol A, or BPA.
The Food and Drug Administration is being widely criticized for its failure to limit the use of BPA. Children are exposed to BPA from plastic baby bottles, the linings of metal infant formula cans and other consumer products. Tests have found the chemical in 93% of Americans.
Arguing that parents are confused and worried about their children, a member of the FDA's science board said Friday that he wants the agency to inform the public about BPA's risks.
"There comes a point in time when the science has to become policy," said Larry Sasich, an associate professor of pharmacy at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, at a meeting Friday on BPA. "The system is running the risk of losing credibility with the public unless we take some definitive action that the public can understand."
The FDA's science board, a group of outside experts, voted Friday to endorse a devastating report by its BPA subcommittee, which found major flaws in the agency's decision to declare BPA safe. The agency oversees the safety of food containers.
The science board agreed that the FDA was wrong to base its August decision that BPA is safe only on studies funded by the chemical industry. Excluded studies suggest BPA, which acts like the hormone estrogen, could pose harm to children at levels at least 10 times lower than what the FDA allows.
"As a parent, it's outrageous to think that another generation is going to be born and subjected to these toxic exposures while this process works itself out," Sonya Lunder, a scientist with Environmental Working Group, said in an interview. Another advocacy group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, has formally asked the FDA to remove BPA from food and beverage containers.
"BPA was initially used as a sex hormone," Lunder said. "It should never have been allowed to come into contact with infant formula."
On Friday, FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach said the FDA's decision is a work in progress, with the science board's input being a vital part of the outcome. Industry groups noted at Friday's meeting that other regulatory agencies, including ones in Europe and Japan, have found BPA to be safe.
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
??? Copyright 2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.