FDA Rejects BPA Ban
The FDA has reportedly denied a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to ban the plasticizing agent bisphenol A (BPA) from food packaging.
According to an Associated Press report, the agency found that the NRDC didn't provide enough scientific evidence to justify a complete ban of the chemical, which ignited public concern in 2008 after being found in baby bottles, soup cans, and other food items.
The FDA has not yet posted the decision on its website and did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
The decision springs from a lawsuit NRDC filed in June 2010 after the FDA didn't respond to its initial petition 18 months earlier, which called for the agency to keep the chemical out of food packaging products.
In 2008, FDA initially dismissed concerns about BPA in consumer products, but subsequently took heat from congressional leaders and its own scientific board for the decision.
Two year later, the agency reversed course and promised a major research effort to pin down any potential health risks.
Some research has linked the chemical with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and liver abnormalities, and on its website, the FDA says some studies have raised questions about its effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children.
Still, the agency says the evidence generally supports the safety of current low levels of human exposure to BPA.
FDA said it currently supports voluntary industry actions to stop producing BPA-containing baby bottles and minimize the presence of the plasticizer in food can linings.
The American Chemistry Council, generally an advocate for industry, reiterated in a press statement its stance that BPA is safe.
"BPA is one of the most thoroughly tested chemicals used today and has a safety track record in food contact of over 40 years," said the Council's Steven G. Hentges, PhD. "The consensus of government agencies across the world, based on the science, is that BPA is safe for use in food-contact materials."
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