What is Bisphenol A? 

Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in the resins that coat the inside of some food cans. The coating enables canned food to be heated to kill off bacteria without the metal in the can getting into the food.

The amount of bisphenol A legally permitted to migrate from food contact materials, such as packaging, into food - known as the specific migration limit - is based on the TDI (tolerable daily intake). That migration level was also reduced in 2002 when the TDI was reduced.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published its opinion today (29th Jan 2009) on the safety of the use of bisphenol A in food contact materials. These materials are used in some plastic bottles and the coatings used inside many cans.

The Agency welcomes the clarity provided by EFSA as there has been some scientific uncertainty about the low-dose effects of bisphenol A on human health. The report provides reassurance about the safety of bisphenol A at the levels that may be found in food.

In 2002, due to the scientific uncertainty around bisphenol A, the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food reduced five fold the amount it considered could safely be eaten daily. This is the tolerable daily intake (TDI) level and is the daily amount that a person may eat over a lifetime without suffering any health effects.

This latest assessment by EFSA has concluded that this five fold reduction is no longer necessary and that the TDI can safely return to its original level of 0.05 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight. EFSA have estimated that the amount of bisphenol A that people take in through their food (dietary exposure), including infants and children, is well below the new TDI.

 Source: Food Standards Agency

What does Bisphenol A do to the body?

Bisphenol A (BPA)  or (2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane is a chemical which causes damage to animals and probably humans during critical stages of their development by interfering with healthy growth and body function. Concerns have also been raised about possible links between this chemical and cardiovascular disease and diabetes in adults. A monomer used to make polycarbonate and epoxy resins, Bisphenol A is one of the highest volume chemicals produced world-wide. The products made from it are used in plastic bottles, toys, in the lining of food cans (including infant formula milk) and dental sealants.

The chemical mimics the effect of the hormone oestrogen in the body; by binding with oestrogen receptors but not replacing the activity of oestrogen, Bisphenol A affects reproductive, neurological and immune systems.

Babies are particularly vulnerable to hormone mimicking-effects because they are growing rapidly, both in the womb and in their early months and years.

Bisphenol A has been shown to leach out of feeding bottles which are made from this sort of plastic. In the recent Canadian/US studies, however, the bottles did not leach Bisphenol A at room temperature.

It is polycarbonate plastic (clear shatter proof plastic) bottles, which often have the number 7 in the recycling triangle on the bottle, or the letters “PC” near the recycling triangle, that leach Bisphenol A. 

Source: NCT