French Food Safety Agency Highlights ‘Warning Signals’ on Low Dose BPA Exposure

16th February 2010

Breast Cancer UK has welcomed the French Food Safety Agency’s Opinion on its internal review on low dose effects of Bisphenol-A (BPA) that has highlighted a number of ‘warning signals’. It has also outlined the action that it is taking in response to its review, including:

• Working with other international health agencies to propose and develop new methodologies for assessing the risks related to very low levels of bisphenol A and, more generally, of endocrine disruptors;
• Collecting data in France on the presence of bisphenol A in breast milk, in infants and in infant formula, and;
• Investigating sources of exposure to bisphenol A other than food contact materials.

The French Food Safety Agency’s highlighting of health concerns following reviews of ‘about fifty articles and scientific reports published in 2008 and 2009’ on low dose effects follows on from a recent announcement by the US Food and Drug Administration that outlined its ‘concerns’ and the Canadian Government initiating a regulatory ban on the use of Bisphenol-A in baby bottles in 2008, which is currently going though its final stages of implementation.

Breast Cancer UK launched the No More BPA Campaign in December 2009, to raise awareness of the hazards of Bisphenol-A amongst the public and calling on the Government to take regulatory action to end the use of BPA in baby bottles sold in the UK. The Opinion by the French Food Safety Agency, and other announcements by safety authorities in North America, puts renewed pressure on the UK Food Standards Agency to conduct a similar review into BPA.

Significantly, the Opinion by the French Food Safety Agency, makes clear that the EU Tolerable Daily Intake level for ‘compounds that are endocrine disruptors, which can have different effects depending on the development stage (critical exposure windows during which harmful effects can appear, in particular the perinatal period)… does not seem to be the most suitable approach for risk assessment.’

The Opinion goes on to state ‘Furthermore, the OECD Test Guideline 426 [one of the currently standard test methodologies approved by regulatory bodies] does not seem entirely suitable for characterising subtle effects on the nervous system, such as may be observed with endocrine disruptors and bisphenol A in particular.’

Clare Dimmer, Chair of Breast Cancer UK stated: “Scientists have been calling for many years for new standardised tests to be put in place that will detect the low dose effects of Bisphenol-A that have been consistently indentified in independent studies for more than a decade. Although well overdue, it is very gratifying to see that a major European food safety agency has finally woken up to the need for this to be done, and it’s about time that the UK Food Standards Agency makes a similar call.”