EPA Asks for Input About BPA

The Environmental Protection agency (EPA) is asking for the public’s input on whether the agency should make the chemical industry conduct toxicity tests and environmental monitoring for bisphenol A (BPA). Associate Editor Erickson reports in Chemical & Engineering News that the move is part of EPA’s action plan on BPA to address risks presented by this high controversial chemical in plastics and other products.

BPA shows up in a whole slew of products, including polycarbonate plastic containers, epoxy paints, and even cash-register receipts. The EPA says more than one million pounds of BPA gets into the environment each year.

In March 2010, EPA issued an action plan on BPA that outlined possible steps the agency might take to address risks of BPA. The EPA press release for the latest request for input about BPA toxicity testing and environmental sampling says:

‘A number of concerns have been raised about the potential human health and environmental effects of BPA,’ says Stephen A. Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety & Pollution Prevention. ‘The data collected under the testing EPA is considering would help EPA better understand and address the potential environmental impacts of BPA.’

In its action plan, Erickson explains EPA is thinking about requiring chemical manufacturers to conduct toxicity testing to figure out whether or not BPA has an impact on health effects on environmental organisms, such as fish and frogs. EPA is also eyeing the possibility of having the manufacturers sample and monitor for BPA near the chemical manufacturing plants and other places where it is expected to be released.

However, EPA is currently not going to make the industry do additional toxicity testing of BPA on human health. But studies in the past have raised questions about what BPA does in mammals. A recent analysis suggested that mice exposed to BPA.

Erickson writes:

Although BPA has been shown to cause developmental and reproductive effects in laboratory animals, the chemical industry stands behind its safety, touting the fact that it has been used for more than 50 years. ‘The effects of BPA on the environment have been widely studied and it has been demonstrated that BPA is readily biodegradable — meaning it breaks down rapidly and does not linger in the environment — and does not bioaccumulate,’ says Steven G. Hentges, executive director of the Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group at the American Chemistry Council, a chemical industry trade group. ‘Recent comprehensive assessments conducted in Europe and Japan concluded that BPA is not a risk to the environment as it is currently used.’

EPA’s action paln describes BPA as a reproductive, developmental, and systemic toxic chemical in animal that mimics the female sex hormone, estrogen. It notes there are questions about its potential impact, particularly on children’s health and the environment. It adds:

Studies employing standardized toxicity tests used globally for regulatory decision-making indicate that the levels of BPA in humans and the environment are below levels of potential concern for adverse effects. However, results of some recent studies using novel low-dose approaches and examining different endpoints describe subtle effects in laboratory animals at very low concentrations. Some of these low-dose studies are potentially of concern for the environment because the concentration levels identified with effects are similar to some current environmental levels to which sensitive aquatic organisms may be exposed.