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BPA is a-OK according to EU

January 21, 2015

Europe's food safety watchdog has released its evaluation of the health risks posed by the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA. They have concluded BPA does not pose a health risk, at least not at current levels of exposure.

https://p.dw.com/p/1ENqC
Bisphenol-A kurz BPA Weichmacher Plastikfalschen PET Flaschen Becher Trinkfalschen Säuglingsflaschen Sauger
Image: AFP/Getty Images

A statement released by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on Wednesday said that an evaluation of bisphenol A (BPA) exposure and toxicity revealed that the chemical did not post health risks to consumers of any age.

"EFSA concludes that BPA poses no health risk to consumers because current exposure to the chemical is too low to cause harm," the statement read.

New research on BPA in recent years prompted the EFSA to re-evaluate the risks posed by the chemical.

BPA is often used in plastic food containers, the lining of tin cans, and in thermal paper used for cash register receipts. While the EFSA concluded there was no health risks posed by BPA, the body did lower its tolerable daily intake (TDI) from 50 down to four micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. This was due to changes in the method used to assess risk from BPA, which has become more refined.

For most people, average exposure to BPA is three to five times lower than the new TDI. The EFSA concluded that extreme rates of overexposure – to the tune of 100 times the TDI – were likely to cause adverse affects in the kidneys and liver. These findings were based on animal studies, which also concluded high doses could affect mammary glands.

The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned BPA from baby bottles in 2012 but did not find enough evidence of a risk to impose a wider ban.

mz/msh (AFP, Reuters)