In the News

EFSA Delays Publication of BPA Safety Review; Cites New Studies

Jun 4, 2010

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced that it will release an update on the safety of Bisphenol A (BPA) in July 2010. Requested by the European Commission (EC), the update was originally scheduled for release last month. However, EFSA said its scientific Panel on food contact materials, enzymes, flavourings and processing aids (CEF Panel)—which is preparing the BPA update—needs to extra time to analyze recent BPA studies. EFSA specifically referred to a study by Donald G. Stump and others on possible neurodevelopmental effects of BPA.

EFSA presented its draft opinion on BPA to representatives from the EC and EU Member States at a March 26, 2010 meeting. A few days later, on March 30, EFSA received an urgent request from the EC to review the scientific arguments provided Denmark in support of its decision to ban the use of BPA in food-contact materials for infants aged from 0 to 3 years. According to EFSA, "The Danish risk assessment was based mainly on the study by Stump looking at possible neurodevelopmental effects of BPA at a range of different dose levels." (The EFSA statement mentioning the Stump study can be found here.) On March 26, 2010, the Danish government announced temporary three-month ban on BPA in food-contact materials for children, aged 0 to 3, effective July 1, 2010.

The Stump study, "Developmental Neurotoxicity Study of Dietary Bisphenol A in Sprague-Dawley Rats," was published in the February 17, 2010 issue of Toxicological Sciences. The study's authors stated in the abstract, "There was no evidence that BPA is a developmental neurotoxicant in rats and the NOAEL for developmental neurotoxicity was 2250 ppm, the highest dose tested (164 mg/kg/day and 410 mg/kg/day during gestation and lactation, respectively)."

Danish Ban Based on Precautionary Principle

In a press release on the BPA ban, the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries said that the temporary ban was adopted by invoking the precautionary principle. Explaining, the Danish Minister of Food, Henrik Høegh, stated, "From DTU Food [National Food Institute at the Technical University of Denmark] we have received an assessment based on new comprehensive studies of rats. Danish experts say there is no clear evidence that bisphenol A has harmful effects on the behaviour observed. However, the experts find that the new studies raise uncertainties about whether even small amounts of bisphenol A have an impact on the learning capacity of new-born rats. In my opinion these uncertainties must benefit the consumers, so we will utilize the precautionary principle to introduce a national ban on bisphenol A in materials in contact with food for children aged 0 – 3 years."

In France, a ban on manufacturing, import, exporting, and selling baby bottles made of BPA-based products was approved by the French Senate at the end of March and by the French National Assembly on May 11, 2010. The ban is part of a more comprehensive environmental bill, referred to as "Grenelle 2."