Bisphenol-A in the Media

"Gender bending chemical in food tins may cut male infertility,"according to the Daily Mail. The article is based on research examining levels of bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in commercial plastic packaging (including many food and drink products) in the urine of 190 men recruited from an infertility clinic.

The study found BPA was present in 89% of samples and that there was a trend for higher BPA levels to be associated with poor sperm quality, as well as damage to sperm DNA.

This small cross-sectional study has several limitations. The results were not statistically significant, the study design cannot show cause and effect and there was no comparison group of men who were not attending an infertility clinic. (Read story)

Seit Jahrzehnten lesen sich Studien über die männliche Fruchtbarkeit wie Notstandsberichte. Die Anzahl und Qualität der Spermien sinke unaufhaltsam, berichten Forscher. Und wenn die Entwicklung nicht gestoppt werde, sei die generelle Zeugungsunfähigkeit des Mannes nur noch eine Frage von Jahrzehnten. Folgerichtig sorgen sich auch die Medien um das Wohlergehen der Spermien: «Der Wille ist stark, aber das Sperma ist schwach.» Die Menschheit könnte auf dem besten Wege sein, sich selbst auszurotten.

Doch jetzt zeigt eine kritische Analyse der Studien: Dass die Anzahl der Spermien zurückgeht, lässt sich nicht belegen. Viele der alarmierenden Aussagen beruhen auf fehlenden Standards bei den Messmethoden, falschen Statistiken und Gruppen von Studienteilnehmern, die man nicht miteinander vergleichen darf. (Read story)

There has been much concern recently that bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic bottles and metal can linings may leach into food, leading to increased health risks to pregnant women, fetuses, infants and children. This concern is not supported by the science. (Read story)

The Independent has campaigned for restricted use of the chemical bisphenol A in the belief that it is likely to cause harm to humans, and babies in particular. Bisphenol A is used in the hard plastic of baby feeding bottles and small amounts can leach out into milk. Even after having spent around $50m on the question, scientists are split in their views on the health risks, and the Independent has challenged regulators and the UK Foods Standards Agency to explain why they continue to say that Bisphenol A is safe. (Read story)

How safe are your baby's bottles?

Yesterday a coalition of some of the world's leading scientists called on Britain to ban chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in any plastic used for baby bottles or baby food containers, reporting that it has been linked with cases of cancer, hyperactivity and other problems.

But while some evidence suggests they are dangerous, some authorities have resisted the call for a ban in the past. (Read article)

Britain's top endocrine disruptor expert says governments are wasting "tens, probably hundreds, of millions of dollars" on pointless research onBPA's safety. EPA scientists detail scores of flaws in critics of chemical's case. (Read article)

The sad saga of bisphenol A (BPA) and food containers reveals much about what is wrong with some environmentalists today. (Read article)

Jon Entine considers what the rejection of a ban on Bisphenol A, a commonly used chemical, means for business, society, and science-based decision making. (Read article)

Fear and loathing over a very common chemical.

Forgive us for wondering if Joe Biden had a hand in writing the FDA's recent pronouncement on bisphenol A (BPA), because it sounds strangely similar to his gaffe during the swine flu scare that travelling on airplanes was completely safe, though he wouldn't recommend it for his family. (Read story or here)

A new study claims an association between bisphenol a and heart disease. We've been here before.

A new study from researchers at the University of Exeter in England, and published in PLoS medicine (Melzer et al., 2010) claims to have replicated an association between urinary BPA levels and heart disease. (Read story)

Green weighs in on the controversy surrounding Bisphenol A, the target du jour of the anti-plastics campaign.

To ban or not to ban, that is the question now being asked about a chemical named bisphenol A--aka BPA--used in the production of plastic bottles and a wide range of other consumer products. (Read story)

Some months ago, I wrote about the misguided attacks on BPA-an important industrial chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate, and as a key constituent of protective coatings on metal food and beverage cans. That article outlined the science, or really the lack of science, behind the fear entrepreneurs' push to ban this chemical, and the serious limitations of the so-called endocrine disruptor theory. (Read story)

Editorial commentary on the article ‘Occupational exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA) and the risk of self-reported male sexual dysfunction' Li et al., 2009, by Richard M. Sharpe (Read story)

Magazine's criticism of latest EPA study showing no adverse effects from BPA recycles "ad-hominem attack" repeatedly shown to be "without scientific merit," says EPA's Senior Reproductive Toxicologist. (Read story)

Germany's risk watchdog has become the latest official body to declare that bisphenol A (BPA) is safe for "normal" use in baby bottles and should not be banned. (Read story)

Forget GMO and nanotechnology - the biggest food safety issue of our times is bisphenol A (BPA).

On Friday, California decided not to become the latest US state to ban the chemical. After a week of intense political wrangling, Bill SB 797 fell amid a flurry of heart-felt speeches from the floor and last-minute lobbying in the corridors of the State Assembly. (Read story)

Overrating Chemical Risk

Scientists say journalists get it wrong. (Read Story)

US scientific panel refuses to list bisphenol A as hazardous

The ongoing battle over bisphenol A (BPA) took another twist yesterday when a scientific regulatory board in California rejected calls to put the packing chemical on a list of harmful substances. (Read story)

The Latest Toxin Activists Want To Ban

But this chemical, found in plastic bottles, hasn't been proven unsafe. (Read story)

Science Suppressed: How America became obsessed with BPA

An in-depth examination of the science, risk assessment, and media coverage of the most controversial chemical since alar, drawing on interviews with the lead authors of two major risk assessments, and focusing on the accuracy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's award-winning series, "Chemical Fallout," and the newspaper's campaign to have the chemical banned. (Read story)

European safety watchdogs reaffirm belief in safety of BPA

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) have no plans to re-examine their advice on bisphenol A (BPA) and have not seen any information that would lead it to question its previous findings. (Read story)

Are Chemicals Killing Us? Toxicologists Say Media Overstate Risks

A groundbreaking new survey of scientists specializing in toxicology calls into question the risks associated with many chemicals as they are routinely depicted in the media. (Read story)

Study does not prove BPA link to disease: EFSA

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) claims a recent study did not provide sufficient proof of a causal link between Bisphenol A (BPA) and heart disease, type 2 diabetes and liver enzyme abnormalities, and, as a result, the established Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) is sufficient. (Read story)

Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) joins FDA, others, in affirming safety of BPA

Worldwide support for Bisphenol A (BPA) as used in food and beverage packaging continues to grow even in the face of new research purporting to show evidence of risk from such uses. (Read story)

Consumer agency gives Bisphenol A the all-clear

The Federal Agency for Risk Assessment (BfR) sees no risk to health from Bisphenol A. Certainly not if the tolerable daily limit of 0,05 mg Bisphenol A per kilogram of body weight, as established by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is respected. (Read story)

Why food packaging is wrapped up in myths

"I'm not changing my behaviour on the basis of this single study." Lest we forget, packaging and, in particular, canning, has brought major benefit to our health...(Read story)

Information Nr. 036/2008 of the BfR of 19 September 2008

This week, two new studies from the United States have again brought the chemical bisphenol A into discussion. The [German] Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, BfR) has assessed whether the studies provide any findings that would make necessary an amendment of the health risk assessment. The Institute concludes that in light of the data from both studies there is no reason to change the current risk assessment for bisphenol A. (Read original statement in German or unofficial translation in English)

Activists hit the (plastic) bottle again

"BPA is metabolized and excreted from the body pretty quickly, usually within 24 hours. Without more information on exposure to BPA and disease origins, there is absolutely no basis for linking the two." (Read story)

Your Water Bottle is Not Going to Give You a Heart Attack

The media responded to a new study on bisphenol A (BPA), published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), with hundreds of news stories claiming that the chemical had been "linked" to the occurrence of heart disease and diabetes in people. But given the history of alarmist stories in the media over BPA, and the repeated refusal of the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. and the European Food Safety Agency to place any restrictions on the use of the chemical in polycarbonate bottles and the epoxy resins used to line cans, the question is did the press report this new study's findings accurately or did they spin the findings to support stronger (and perhaps scarier) conclusions? (Read story)

Risky business

From trans fats to chemicals, public perceptions of health risks far outweigh the actual dangers. (Read story)