Migration of Bisphenol-A (BPA)

During the chemical process of polymerisation, bisphenol A (BPA) reacts and becomes firmly bound into the structure of the polymer material.

More than 99% of all BPA produced worldwide is immediately converted into polymers. However, like with any chemical process, it will be possible to measure technically unavoidable trace levels of BPA using sophisticated measuring methods in the final polymer.

There has been extensive scientific research to examine whether such trace levels of BPA can subsequently "migrate" from polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resin products, and whether this poses any risk to human health.

The body of accepted science comes to two simple conclusions with respect to polycarbonate and epoxy resin:

• As is the case with any other food contact material, there is some potential for trace amounts of chemicals - including Bisphenol-A - to migrate from the polymer.
• Any resulting exposure to BPA is very low and does not pose any risk to either human health or the environment, as confirmed by regulatory assessments.

In fact, scientific studies have proved that trace amounts of BPA that might enter the human body are rapidly "metabolised" into an inactive kind of sugar, which is excreted from the body (within 24 hours) with no detrimental health effect.

With this understanding of the metabolic processes in the body, and after evaluating the available data on the realistic, extremely low BPA exposure, the regulatory authorities in Europe, the US and Japan have concluded that the use of polycarbonate plastic in applications that come into direct contact with food poses no concern, including when heated. This includes updated views on BPA published in August 2008 by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

More information:

• Bisphenol-A and Consumer Safety
• Factsheet: Bisphenol A Safety
• Factsheet: Bisphenol A and Regulatory Assessments
• Study: Nathalie De Coensel, Frank David, Pat Sandra, 2009. Study on the migration of bisphenol-A from baby bottles by stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-capillary GC-MS. Abstract available here.
• Study: Ehlert, K. A., Beumer, C. W. E., and Groot, M. C. E. 2008. Migration study of bisphenol A into water from polycarbonate baby bottles during microwave heating. Food Additives and Contaminants. Available on-line here.
• Study: Maragou, N. C., Makri, A, Lampi, E. N., Thomaidis, N. S., and Koupparis, M. A. 2008. Migration of bisphenol A from polycarbonate baby bottles under real use conditions. Food Additives and Contaminants. 25(3):373-383. Available on-line here.
• Study: Biedermann-Brem, S., Grob, K., and Fjeldal, P. 2007. Click here to view the study.
• Study: C.Brede, P. Fjeldal, I. Skjevrak and H. Herikstad 2003. Increased migration levels of bisphenol A from polycarbonate baby bottles after dishwashing, boiling and brushing. Food Additives and Contaminants. 20(7):684-689. Available on-line here.
• Study: Determination of bisphenol A in Resusable Polycarbonate Food-Contact Plastics and Migration to Food-Simulating Liquids. Biles, J.E. et al. 1997. J. Agric. Food Chem. 45:3541-3544. Publisher: ACS Publications (View abstract)
• Study: Investigations into the Potential Degradation of Polycarbonate Baby Bottles During Sterilisation with Consequent Release of bisphenol A. Mountfort, K.A. et al. 1997. Food Addit. Contam. 14(6-7):737-40. Study available from PubMed.