The FDA’s Science Board earlier this week heard  an update from the agency regarding the continued assessment of Bisphenol-A (BPA) in FDA-regulated products. (The Science Board to the Food and Drug Administration provides advice primarily to the Commissioner and other government officials on complex and technical issues as well as emerging issues within the scientific community.  The Board consists of a core of 21 members who are supposed to be authorities knowledgeable in the fields of food safety, nutrition, chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, clinical research, and other scientific disciplines. Members represent academia and industry.)

At the meeting’s update from the agency regarding the continued assessment of BPA,  the FDA Acting Deputy Commissioner briefed the agency’s Science Board about agency plans to complete its evaluation of bisphenol A;  Dr. Goodman, who is also FDA’s acting chief scientist, reportedly stated that the FDA will decide by Nov. 30 whether it will regulate bisphenol A in food packaging. FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research also described a variety of rodent and monkey studies that FDA is undertaking to further assess bisphenol A and potential health effects.

A representative of the Natural Resources Defense Council was among the public speakers who urged FDA to ban bisphenol A, despite the fact that the few studies of laboratory animals that have suggested an association with reproductive or developmental issues have used nonstandard test methods. Studies using standard protocols have not found any significant problems. The American Chemistry Council, BPA Joint Trade Association, and other industry groups argue that food and beverage containers made with BPA pose no undue risk of harm.  BPA is used in the lining of some food and beverage cans to prevent spoilage and is also used in a variety of other consumer products to enhance the structural integrity of plastic containers. Assessments conducted by Health Canada and California’s Environmental Protection Agency suggest that dietary exposure would not pose risk to infants. Infant formula may be the most highly regulated food in the world.

Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued a health advisory   to parents and caretakers of children up to the age of two years suggesting they avoid the use of products that contain BPA for making or storing infant formula and breast milk. The state health agency further advised pregnant and breastfeeding women to avoid products that may contain BPA. The agency also noted that researchers caution that more research needs to be conducted.

Readers of MassTortDefense interested in BPA issue may want to look at “Science Suppressed: How America became obsessed with BPA,”  an in-depth examination by the STATS program at George Mason University of the science, risk assessment, and media coverage of the chemical, based on interviews with the lead authors of two major risk assessments, and focusing on the accuracy of the media’s campaign to have the chemical banned. Some newspapers’ coverage has had a knack, says the study, for avoiding research that showed BPA was safe, including risk assessments by the European Union, NSF International, Japan, and a lot more. Some of the media coverage has relied on a small circle of researchers whose work on BPA has been rejected by risk assessments across the world.

After the National Toxicology Program draft report was issued in early 2008, plaintiffs’ attorneys nationwide began filing consumer class action complaints claiming violations of state consumer protection laws, fraud, breach of warranty, unjust enrichment, strict product liability, breach of contract and negligence. The lawsuits were consolidated as an MDL in the Western District of Missouri, last year (MDL-1967).  This multidistrict litigation consists of more than 25 cases that involve allegations concerning in baby bottles.