Reversing itself, FDA now says the chemical BPA poses a health risk (WaPo)

[struggle4progress]

By Lyndsey Layton
Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Food and Drug Administration has reversed its position on the safety of Bisphenol A, a chemical found in plastic bottles, soda cans, food containers and thousands of consumer goods, saying it now has concerns about health risks.

Growing scientific evidence has linked the chemical to a host of problems, including cancer, sexual dysfunction and heart disease. Federal officials said they are particularly concerned about BPA's effect on the development of fetuses, infants and young children.

"We have some concern, which leads us to recommend reasonable steps the public can take to reduce exposure to BPA," said Joshua Sharfstein, FDA's deputy commissioner, in a conference call to reporters Friday.

Regulators stopped short of banning the compound or even requiring manufacturers to label products containing BPA ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011504070.html?hpid=topnews

[hlthe2b]

1. All those canned goods I've eaten over the years--esp. tomato sauce

Not good... BTW, Eden organic canned beans and other foods do not contain BPA as they have used a more expensive and innovative lining for years (since 1999, I believe). I was glad to see that because I have a rather large selection of their canned products--some a wee old..

[peacebird]

2. Regulators stopped short of banning the compound or even requiring manufacturers to label products

WTF?
Just HOW are consumers supposed to take steps to reduce exposure if manufacturers do not have to admit the BPA is used in their product? Right now it is in the coating inside some soup cans and some soda cans - are we to avoid all canned products?

[Lorien]

4. That's the way with so many toxic substances

from GMO corn to high fructose corn syrup to Nutrasweet; more and more the food supply-not to mention water from nearly every source-is contaminated or just downright deadly. The FDA no longer serves the people by stopping products that make us sick from ending up on grocery shelves. On the contrary; they clear the way for such products. Ex-Monsanto execs fill the FDA. Their job is to make corporate America richer, and making the rest of us sick does that very effectively.

[katandmoon]

3. Outrageous on all counts.

[Wilms]

5. Change is bad. n/t

[gateley]

6. Absolutely infuriating. nt

[RedEarth]

7. New Study Says BPA Might Be Linked to Heart Disease

Plastic food containers are among common products that can contain bisphenol-A, or BPA

National Geographic News

Published January 15, 2010

Bisphenol-A, or BPA—a common, human-made chemical that enters most of our bodies everyday—has been linked to heart disease, a new study says.

BPA is commonly used in consumer plastics, particularly polycarbonate plastic items such as many sunglasses, reusable bottles, food packaging, and baby bottles. It also lines the inside of food cans.

In a sampling of U.S. adults, those with the highest levels of BPA in their urine were more than twice as likely to suffer from coronary heart disease than those with the lowest concentrations of BPA.

The findings almost perfectly dovetail with a 2008 study on the same topic, said study co-author Tamara Galloway, an ecotoxicologist at the U.K.'s University of Exeter.

"If you see it once, that's interesting," Galloway said.

"If you see it twice in a separate population, it's a strong indication that what you're seeing is not just some chance finding."

Frederick vom Saal, a BPA researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia, agreed that the two sets of "data are compelling and demonstrate repeatability"—the point at which scientific findings move from preliminary to validated.

Study co-author Galloway cautioned, however, that no direct cause-and-effect had been found between BPA and heart disease. It remains possible that the two may be only indirectly linked.

BPA Mimics Estrogen

The American Chemistry Council, which represents the U.S. plastic industry, says that "minimal" exposure to BPA poses no known risk to human health.

Still, BPA's ability to mimic estrogen—and spur reproductive mutations in the womb—has been well documented, leading some cities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe to ban BPA-containing products.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100115-bpa-bisphenol-a-heart-disease/