FDA Delays Taking Action on Bisphenol A
Continuing to demonstrate its reluctance to regulate toxic chemicals in consumer products, the Food and Drug Administration announced that additional time was required to assess whether it is safe to use bisphenol A (BPA) in food containers.
Though the move may be considered a relative improvement over its previous assertion that BPA is safe, the FDA has ignored a growing body of scientific evidence that BPA is harmful to humans even in low exposures.
Many states have grown impatient as the Federal government has dawdled on the issue.
Ten states, with at least five more anticipated, and several local governments have taken steps to restrict or ban BPA in consumer products, particularly in baby bottles. BPA has been linked to diabetes, cancer, and early onset of puberty; babies are the most susceptible to the effects of exposure.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has the authority to regulate BPA as an ingredient in household products that are hazardous to children. The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, a coalition of over 160 organizations in Massachusetts, is calling for such a decisive action to protect children’s health.
While science regarding BPA is clear, the source of FDA’s hesitancy is not. “We know more than enough about the harm to health from BPA to remove it immediately from children’s products and food and beverage containers,” said Namasha Schelling, Campaign Organizer with Clean Water Action. “Every day the FDA delays acting, more pregnant moms and young children are exposed to a synthetic hormone linked to breast cancer, early puberty, diabetes and other epidemics.”
