FDA to Rule on Plastics Chemical in Coming Months

The Food and Drug Administration will announce by Nov. 30 its official position on bisphenol-A [1], according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Meg Kissinger [2]:

Jesse Goodman, the FDA's chief scientist, told the agency's Science Board that a group of FDA scientists will conduct a new review of all the studies on BPA. That review will be assessed by a group of government scientists not affiliated with the FDA.

Commissioner Margaret Hamburg will then decide whether the chemical is safe for use in food packaging. 

FDA’s Science Board is on the record criticizing [3] a draft assessment of bisphenol-A that FDA released last year. In the draft assessment, FDA identified "margins of safety" for both infants and adults and contended, at levels most humans are exposed to, the margins are adequate. But the the Science Board later said the available evidence "provides a sufficient scientific basis to conclude that the Margins of Safety defined by FDA as 'adequate' are, in fact, inadequate."

Bisphenol-A is an ingredient in hard, polycarbonate plastics. No. 7 plastics [4], like those used for reusable water bottles, are usually polycarbonate. Bisphenol-A is also an ingredient in certain resins used to line food cans, placing it in the province of the FDA.

Scads of studies have linked bisphenol-A exposure to heart disease, developmental disorders, and other health problems. A report by the National Toxicology Program [5] – which, like FDA, is housed within the Department of Health and Human Services – said the chemical substance is of “some concern” in humans.