Chemical Industry Group Launches Defense of BPA

The American Chemistry Council announced an ad campaign highlighting recent evaluations of bisphenol A as "safe."

The ads--running in USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and on consumer, news and health websites--urge readers to "listen to the science" on BPA, a synthetic compound found in many plastics and resins.

The chemical industry trade group cites findings by the European Food Safety Authority that BPA poses "no health risk to consumers of any age group," as well as a recent “unambiguous” response from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration affirming that BPA is safe.

"Together, the EFSA and FDA reviews show that today's consumer products that rely on BPA are safe," the ads state.

EU regulators said high doses of BPA could have negative health impacts, but the report concluded current exposure levels--from food packaging, dust, cosmetics and thermal paper--remained well below the chemical's "tolerable daily intake."

And although the FDA has banned BPA in baby bottles since 2012, the agency has not taken action to more broadly restrict use of the chemical.

Scientific studies, however, haven't been as kind, linking BPA to a range of physical and behavioral problems. Several U.S. states have taken action to further regulate the use of BPA in recent years, and plastics manufacturers have responded to consumer concerns with an increasing range of "BPA-free" products.

Many of those manufacturers utilize an alternative chemical called BPS, which researchers say mirrors the endocrine-disrupting effects of BPA and could have many of the same health concerns.