MILWAUKEE - The head of the primary federal agency studying the safety of bisphenol A said Friday that people should avoid ingesting the chemical - especially pregnant women, infants and children.
"There are plenty of reasonable alternatives," said Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
While stressing she is not a medical doctor, Birnbaum said she has seen enough studies on the chemical to be concerned about its effects on human health.
A grandmother, Birnbaum said she advises her children to avoid using food packaged in containers made with BPA.
Asked if consumers should be worried about BPA, Birnbaum said, "Absolutely."
In August of 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, charged with regulating the use of chemicals in food products, declared BPA to be safe for all uses - a decision chemical makers routinely point to as proof their product is safe.
However, the agency is reconsidering that ruling after its own advisory board found that FDA scientists ignored valuable studies that found the chemical caused harm.
The agency missed a self-imposed Nov. 30 deadline to review its finding, but is expected to issue a new determination any day.
A Journal Sentinel investigation found that lobbyists for industry wrote entire sections of the FDA's original assessment. E-mails obtained by the newspaper found that FDA scientists relied on chemical industry lobbyists to examine BPA's risks, track legislation to ban it and even monitor press coverage.
In formulating its decisions, the FDA considers assessments made by the national institute, Birnbaum's agency.
BPA, developed as an estrogen replacement, is used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. It is used to line most metal food and beverage cans and to coat carbonless paper receipts. Last year, six major baby bottle manufacturers promised to discontinue BPA in their products, citing concern for their consumers' safety.
Sunoco, one of the companies that makes BPA, said it would no longer sell the chemical without a guarantee that it would not be used to make baby bottles.
Canada has declared BPA to be a toxin and prohibits its use in baby bottles.
On Friday, health and environmental groups stepped up their call for a ban on BPA.
"About 125,000 babies have been born in the United States since Nov. 30, the FDA's missed deadline," the Breast Cancer Fund said in a news release. "It's time for the FDA to issue an immediate ban on BPA in hard plastic food containers and require labeling of all other food packaging containing BPA."
In testimony before a Senate panel last week, Birnbaum compared BPA to lead, mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls, all of which have been found to have devastating health effects even at low doses.
Her agency, the NIEHS, is investing $30 million over the next two years on BPA-related research. She said it will look at the chemical's effects on all stages of development.
She also said that the National Toxicology Program may be revising its 2008 report which found some concern for fetuses, infants and children regarding their prostate and brain development as well as behavioral effects.
"Science doesn't stay still," Birnbaum said in the Friday interview. "New data continues to be generated that warrants a closer look."
Birnbaum said the traditional ways of looking at a chemical's danger need to be replaced with more precise measures.
"We're not asking the right questions," she said. "We have to look more broadly."
Birnbaum said she would like to see the federal government use the precautionary principle to regulate chemicals. That approach, used in Canada and throughout Europe, requires that a chemical be proved to be safe before it is allowed to be used in commerce.
In the United States, chemicals are allowed on the market and removed only if they have been found to cause harm.
Regarding BPA, Birnbaum said there is enough uncertainty about its safety to caution people to avoid it in food contact items.
"It's simple enough to avoid," she said. "So, why not avoid a problem?"
---
(c) 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.