The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released a draft report finding that the chemical bisphenol A does not pose a serious health risk. BPA is used in several products, including some plastic baby bottles, food containers, and water bottles. The chemical is added to make polycarbonate plastic bottles clear and shatterproof.

As MassTortDefense has noted before, and here, BPA has been much in the news. In May, 2008, FDA officials told a congressional panel that the agency had no reason to recommend that consumers stop using products containing BPA.  FDA has been examining the data on BPA in anticipation of a September meeting on the issues surrounding the potential toxicity of the chemical. The new draft document will be reviewed by the Bisphenol A Subcommittee of the FDA Science Board on Sept. 16th. Details on the science panel’s meeting can be found here.

The new assessment was particularly focused on the concerns for developmental toxicity identified in recent assessments of BPA, including those of the National Toxicology Program and their expert panel, based on animal data. FDA concluded that this data was insufficient to merit a change in the exposure levels the agency currently allows for BPA. FDA concluded that an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA at current levels of exposure from food contact uses, for infants and adults. This assessment represents a full examination of data considered pivotal to the relevant exposure levels associated with food contact substances, the FDA said.

To avoid underestimating risk, FDA said it made the conservative assumption that an infant drank only formula from cans lined with a bisphenol A-based enamel coating and that the parents heated that formula in polycarbonate baby bottles. Based on such assumptions, FDA estimated that an infant might consume up to 2.42 micrograms bisphenol A per kilogram body weight. Based on animal studies, FDA estimated that the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) for bisphenol A would be 5 milligrams per kilogram body weight. That means the margin of exposure, or the difference between infants’ exposure and the NOAEL, is about 2,000x. That is, FDA said, “an adequate margin of safety….”

FDA’s draft conclusion is consistent with the European Food Safety Authority’s July 23 statement that it considers current uses of bisphenol A to be safe. FDA’s draft assessment called for more research, and said data from nonhuman primates would be helpful, along with measurements of bisphenol A in the U.S. population.

In other BPA news, the California Assembly rejected a bill (S.B. 1713) that would have banned bisphenol A in children’s products, specifically BPA at levels above 0.1 part per billion in baby bottles, cups, food containers, or any other container designed for children under the age of 3 years. By Jan. 1, 2012, S.B. 1713 would have barred the sale of any liquid, food, or beverage in any can or jar containing 0.5 ppb or more of bisphenol A. The American Chemistry Council and numerous experts have contended the products the bill would ban are safe.